


MacGyver Alternate Universe

by Marko123



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Angst, Betrayal, Drama, F/M, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mac and Jack Bromance, MacRiley slow burn, Romance, Suspense, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:19:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 144,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25770484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marko123/pseuds/Marko123
Summary: In Italy Mac and Nikki lost their partner Reese and lost a deadly virus that terrorists are planning to release it to kill millions. DXS needs a new agent and Matilda Webber knows who to call. In this fic, Mac and Jack never went to the army together, Riley never went to prison, and slow burn MacRiley.
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016) & Riley Davis, Jack Dalton/Diane Davis (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Wilt Bozer/Leanna Martin
Comments: 80
Kudos: 107





	1. The Rising

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so in this fic, it's the same missions as the show. But, in this fic, Mac and Jack never went to the army together, Riley never went to prison, Bozer works at DXS with his girlfriend Leanna, and Mac and Nikki are not boyfriend and girlfriend. Now you might have red @MacRileyEdits, if not make sure to go and read it. It's called Friendship + Trust + Family + Love, but if you have red it then you might notice the same things about the characters. But my fic is way different. Im saying this cause i dont want drama about copying someone else. :D And i apologise for mistakes in typing.
> 
> I do not own these characters.

Getting shot at almost twice a week is really annoying. But that’s the life of being a federal agent. My name is Jack Dalton. I work at the CIA. I recently came back from Sweden with a bullet in my shoulder because I didn’t follow the instructions. After the job was done I needed to get to exfil no matter what. But a family was in danger. So I went back to save them. This is not the first time I didn’t follow the instructions but it was always for a good cause. So after I got patched up Director Huang who is the director of the CIA called me in his office. I finished the mission and saved the family. What could go wrong?

“You’re fired.” Huang said, didn’t even hesitate. Jack was sitting there on the opposite side of him confused. Furrowed eyebrows, slightly open mouth, didn’t know what to say.  
“Sorry…wha…why?” Jack asked. He did the job. Mission was successful. Not only that but a father and a mother with a young kid got to live.  
“Look, Agent Dalton, I know that you didn’t follow the instructions for a good cause. And this isn’t your first time either. But everytime you do this, you come back injured. Blood all over you. I really can’t stand that. What if you got killed huh?” Huang said. He was right though. Jack came back injured most of the time. But he came back. Alive. Everytime. And he couldn’t just let that family die.  
“But I didn’t. The mission was a success and that family is safe now” Jack said.  
“But the chances of that happening were high. Even your partner Sara wasn’t there to back you up. Even if she is with you, you’d still come back with a bullet in you.” Huang said. Jack can’t believe this is happening. For doing the right thing he gets fired.  
“So you are firing me for doing the right thing? Jack asked.  
“That family was not your mission, Dalton. I know that, that family doesn’t deserve to die. But at the end of the day you can’t save everyone. And that is a situation that is happening in this job quite often.” Huang said. Jack didn’t know what to say. So he remained silent. He wanted to get a few words out of his mouth but that would only make the situation worse.  
“I’m sorry. But I’m really sick of you taking risks all the time that might end in disasters. I think you are very lucky to still be alive. You can leave now.” Huang said. Jack didn’t wait even a second to get up from the chair. He closed the door with a lot of force than normal. He wanted Huang to know that he was angry. Getting fired for doing the right thing. Wow.

When he arrived home he just wanted to lay down and sleep for a whole week. He needs to heal first before making decisions about his future. So he sits down and he turns on the TV only to see that there was an explosion in the middle of Lake Como in Italy. To boats collided. He switches the channel and finds a NFL game. He is just to tired to do anything else. Later he calls Diane and Riley. Diane is Jack’s girlfriend for like 1 and a half years. Well for now. He is thinking about asking her the big question sometime in the future. And Riley is Diane’s daughter. She is shy, beautiful, doesn’t have a lot of friends, but she is amazing with computers. So far she doesn’t have a job but she is looking for one. Kids in her school were avoiding her because they found it weird that she knows so much about technology. She doesn’t go out at all. Just plays video games, listens to music, stays in shape, going on morning runs and all that stuff. He loves them both. Riley was always so happy to see Jack because he always plays video games with her. Getting her what she wants. Her father was an alcoholic. He would come home drunk as hell and start hitting Diane. Until Jack beat him up and told him to stay away. After that they haven’t heard from him at all. Diane and Jack didn’t really hang out after that. Until they met up downtown and Jack asked her out. He was happy he had both of them in his life. 

3 months later 

Jack still hasn’t asked Diane the big question. He is scared. ‘I need to do it’ he thought. He just needs to encourage himself. After his shoulder healed he found a job. Tile salesman. It was a different job from his previous one. A lot different. But he needed money. He was going home from the supermarket when he saw a familiar person staring at him from the other side of the road. Matilda Webber. He and Matty worked together at CIA before she transferred to a think tank. He and Matty have some history. Now she was waving at him to go to her. And that’s what Jack did.  
“Hi Jack.” Matty said. She didn’t look to happy.  
“Matty.” Jack said.  
“How are you?” she asked. He can see that she wanted something from him. Its been what..2, 2 and a half years since they worked together? He doesn’t know.  
“Perfect,” he said sarcastically. Obviously he is not over from what Director Huang did. “you?”  
“Not perfect.” She replied. He knew it. He knew it when he saw her face.  
“Why is that?” Jack asked. There was a moment of silence and Matty looked at the ground first before meeting Jack’s eyes again.  
“I have a job offer for you.” she said. He was confused. ‘Why would she want me at a think thank’ he thought. So he smirked.  
“Matty…me and a think tank are not a good combination” he said. And it was true. Jack is former Delta Force who is good at fighting and good with guns. What would he do in a think tank?  
“It’s not a think tank..Jack.” she said. “The think tank is just a cover. I work in a secret spy organization that no one knows we exist. You heard about that explosion on Lake Como?”  
“Yeah?” Jack said.  
“Well, that was us. And that is the reason I came to you. That night our mission was to get a biological weapon before it was selled. That weapon is a 30000 year old virus. Now, since…since we lost an agent that night…” she pauses.  
“Sorry to hear that” Jack said. Matty just nodded.  
“You were the first one to come to my mind. We need your help. And..I want you to come work for us. Come on, I know you miss the action” she said. She was right. Jack does miss the action. He will be rusty, but he doesn’t want a 30000 year old virus to be released. That could kill millions.  
“Alright, I’m in.” he said smiling. ‘No more tile’ he told himself. Jack gets to do what he does best. And know for a secret spy organization that nobody knows they exist? Sweet.

2 hours earlier 

My name is Angus MacGyver. I have 12 first place science fair trophies, two years MIT, three years defusing bombs for the military, and now I’m an agent working for a secret spy organization nobody knows about called Department of External Servises (DXS). Our cover is a think tank. Now our last mission didn’t go so well. Actually it was a disaster to be more specific. I lost my partner agent Reese. Reese had my back for years. We were paired up in the military. And then he was shot right in front of me. My other partner Nikki Carpenter, MIT grad, passed up offers from Google, SpaceX and Apple to save lives, best senior analyst in the business and no one better on a keyboard, said she tried to warn us for having company but the comms didn’t work. So I gave them the canister of a deadly weapon which we got and they still shot Reese. And they shot me as well. No I have a scar on the left side of my upper chest. I was lucky, but Reese wasn’t. So I took a break for 3 months. 

When Mac comes out of the shower, he sees his boss Matilda Webber sitting on his couch talking with Bozer. Bozer is my best friend. We’ve known each other since high school. He is like a brother to me, always there when I need him. Just like me being there for him always. He works in the lab at DXS. He knows how to make very good masks, so we offered him a job. He also comes in the field for some missions. Plus working with his girlfriend Leanna Martin who he met at spy school, he loved his job.  
“Matty” Mac said. He is wondering what is she doing here.  
“Mac” Matty said smiling slightly. But by Bozer’s face something serious is going on. “You look good. How’s the…?” she asked as she putted her hand on the left side of her upper chest.  
“Coming along. You?” Mac asked. He can see the pain in her. Losing Reese broke her.  
“I think about him everyday.” she said as she looked down at the floor.  
“What are you doing here?” he asked.  
“Vacation is over. Time to get to work” she said. He can here the seriousness in her voice. She sets down a laptop. On the screen there is a woman looking at the screen with blood dripping from her nose. “Yesterday at 5:07 PM local time, technicians for the Nargaard research facility in Greenland sent out and SOS.” She plays the video. People in the back are coughing and gasping for breath. The woman is struggling to even open her mouth.  
“Please…if anyone is getting this, please, we need help..” she said as she started coughing. And that was not normal coughing. And then the video ends. There is a silence for a couple of second before Matty speaks up.  
“Ten minutes later, all 27 researchers were dead. The CDC sent out a containment team to quarantine the building to figure out what happened.” Matty said.  
“Well, it looks like Ebola, or some sort of viral hemorrhagic fever.” He said. He cleared his throat before saying.. “But they never had any cases in Greenland. Is it something new?” he asked.  
“Try something old. 30000 years old. The CDC thinks is prehistoric. Something they dug up while fracking in Siberia. We believe this virus is the biological weapon that you were sent to Italy to recover three months ago.” Matty said. Mac turns his head to look her in the eyes. Memories coming back in his head. Bad memories.  
“Intel suggest this was a proof of concept demonstration to prove that the seller was actually in possession of the biologic. Up until now, the guy who stole the virus from you-“ she said but getting interrupted by Mac.  
“You mean the man that killed Reese” he said. Matty could hear the anger in his voice.  
“We’ve been trying to find him assuming he was the end user. But this latest intel suggest that he was just another broker looking to make a sale.” she said.  
“Any idea when or where?” he asked.  
“No.” she said. Mac is biting his bottom lip in frustration.  
“Well if we can’t find him, we need to find the buyer. Nikki downloaded everything from that night onto her hard drive. The face of every guest at that party. That’s our list of potential buyers.” Mac said.  
“She is already on it. She is at DXS right now.” Matty said. “Mac, I know you asked for some time, but this requires somebody who can handle a biologic. The clock’s ticking. We need you.” Mac glancing at Matty. ‘I have to do this. Reese didn’t die for nothing’ he thought.  
“I’m in.” he said. Matty grins. But now…  
“Well then, um…since Reese is..no longer with us, we need a new agent. I know just the guy. He is a brilliant agent. One of the best I ever worked with. He is like Reese.” she said. Mac understands and nods.  
“Do whatever it needs to be done. I want to get that virus and put that son of a bitch in hole so he can never see the sunlight again.” he said. And immediately he stands up so he can get dressed and head to the Phoenix.

Department of External Services (DXS)

Jack follows Matty as they enter DXS. Inside, it has such a futuristic look. Everything is white. The walls, the tiles, chairs, desks. ‘This is awesome. It so looks like a think tank’ he said to himself. He followed Matty to the stairs to go one floor down.  
“I would love to give you a tour but that has to wait.” Matty said.  
He follows her in a room to see a blond man and a blond woman staring at a computer screen. Matty and Jack approach them.  
“Hey, guys” Matty called after. They both turned towards Jack and Matty. “This is Jack Dalton, your new partner.” Jack nods at both of them and they do the same. “Jack, this is agent Angus MacGyver and agent Nikki Carpenter.”  
“I heard what happened to your partner. I’m sorry for your loss.” Jack said. In this line of work these things can happen everytime. It hurts. A lot. Mac and Nikki both looked down and then focused on the monitor. Jack couldn’t blame them. Matty decided to break the silence.  
“How are we looking?” she asked.  
“Well, I’m running facial recognition on all of the guests from the party. It could take a few minutes.” Nikki said. Matty hears something growl from her right side.  
“You want anything to eat?” she asked Jack. She can see that he wants to eat.  
“There is no time for that now.” he said. That’s when he heard a “here” from his left side. He turns to Mac and sees that he is offering an energy bar.  
“Didn’t have time to eat at home either so I took 2 of these. One was enough” he said. Jack took the energy bar.  
“Thanks.” he said smiling. Then on the monitors dozens of IDs show up.  
“Okay, face rec is done. These are all of the potential buyers that were at the party.” Nikki said. Mac leaned closer to get a better look.  
“That’s him.” he said pointing at an ID. “Son of a bitch was at the party.”  
“You don’t remember seeing him?” Jack asked. Mac puts his hands on the table.  
“There was a lot of people.” he sighs in frustration. “He must have slipped out before I got into the safe.”  
“Who is he?” Jack asked.  
“That’s the bastard who shot me and killed Reese.” Mac said.  
“His name is John Kendrick. Can you find him?” Matty asked glancing at Nikki.  
“According to this, the guy is on eight watch lists. If he’s still in the wind at this point, I highly doubt we’re gonna be able-“ Nikki said but interrupted by Mac.  
“Can you zoom in on his left wrist?” Mac asked. Nikki starts hitting the keys.  
“What do you see Mac?” Matty asked.  
“Time zone. His watch is set to nine hours earlier.” Mac said.  
“The West Coast of the US is nine hours earlier than Lake Como.” Matty said.  
“I might be able to find him using a Shodan Map.” Nikki said. Jack stares at the monitor with confusion.  
“What-what’s a…what’s a Shodan Map?” he asked. Sounded interesting.  
“A map of every digital device connected to the Internet. Using this, I can access every traffic cam, ATM cam and unsecured surveillance cam on the West Coast” Nikki said. Jack leaned toward Matty and whispers..  
“Is that real? Doesn’t sound real.” Matty just chuckles.  
“I’m inputting Kendrick’s photo and running and image search.” They let the computer do it’s thing as they remained silent and wait.  
“Got him. He’s in San Francisco” Nikki said glancing at Matty.  
“He is not the only one there. Look.” Matty points to a camera. “That is Benjamin Chen. One of the potential buyers. Last whereabouts: San Francisco.” Matty said. Jack leans closer so he can look at the information about Chen.  
“Interesting. Benny boy’s a Chinese national. Former military. This charmer was disavowed by his own government and has an incredibly documented hatred for all things Uncle Sam. Guy sounds lovely.” he said sarcastically.  
“This is a live feed right?” Matty asked and Nikki nodded. “Can you follow him?” Nikki starts pressing keys. “If Kendrick is in California to meet Chen, that means we only have a few hours. You have to get there and stop the sale” Matty says glancing at Mac, Jack and Nikki. “We can’t waste any time. Get your assess to San Francisco.” she says pointing at the door.  
“Yes, ma’am.” Mac said.

Somewhere in the sky 

Jack is impressed. DXS has a private jet. And it looks good. Comfortable seats, a couch, clean bathrooms. Jack has never been to a private jet before. Most of the times he flew in helicopters. He was in the bathroom looking in the mirror. He was about to go after a 30000 year old deadly virus. There is a first time for everything. If they mess up…millions could die. Jack is scared and stressed. So he splashes some water on his face. ‘Just do what you do best, and everything will be fine’ he thought. He comes out of the bathroom to see Nikki doing something on the laptop and Mac sitting on the other side of the plane looking out the window. Jack goes and sits on the opposite side of Mac.  
“So what exactly do you do?” Jack asked. He didn’t know anything about Mac, except his name. He wants to joke about his name because it sounds like a name for a hamburger but now is definitely not the best time.  
“Um…little of this, little of that.” Mac said. ‘Best explanation ever.’  
“Uh..okay. Do-Do you carry a gun?” Jack asked.  
“No. I only have a Swiss Army Knife.” Mac said. Mac can see how confused Jack is. Staring at him with furrowed eyebrows and slightly open mouth? Yeah..he was confused. “Let’s say I make things out of things. If I need a weapon, I’ll make one. And I was an EOD tech in the military.” Jack raises his eyebrows.  
“Okay.” Jack turns his head towards Nikki. “She your girlfriend?” he asked.  
“Um..no. She’s…she’s like a sister to me. We know each other for 1 year.” Mac says. “What about you? What were you doing before this?”  
Jack sighs. He still can’t believe he got fired for doing the right thing. If it wasn’t for him, that family would have been underground.  
“I was working at the CIA for 5 years. Then I got fired.”  
“Why?”  
“I didn’t follow instructions on my last mission. I was suppose to get to exfil but a family was in danger and if I didn’t save them they would have been dead. So I went to save them. And that was successful.”  
“Well…I would have done the same thing” Mac says with a little smile. Of course he will. That’s what good people do. Jack gives him a nod with a smile. Then Mac looks out the window again.

San Francisco

They tracked Kendrick to some hotel near downtown. A lot of people were in the hotel. This was gonna be tricky. Well not for Mac.  
“So how are we gonna find this guy? No way he checked in under his real name.” Nikki said.  
“She’s right. We don’t have time to search room by room.” Jack said.  
“Well…then we will make him come to us.” Mac said.  
“And how are we gonna do that?” Jack asked.  
“Tinfoil.” Mac said. Jack is getting more confused by Mac every second.  
“Tinfoil?” he asked. Mac didn’t answer anything and runs to the nearest closet. “He’s kidding, right?” he asked Nikki.  
Nikki chuckles and simply answers “Nope.”  
Mac starts picking up things and dumping them in a bucket.  
“How is this gonna help up?” Jack asks.  
“When you mix muriatic acid with ammonia and tinfoil, it creates a chemical reaction that causes a lot of smoke.” Mac says. He makes the tinfoil in a shape of a ball and puts it in the liquid that’s in the bucket. And then there is a lot of smoke. Mac takes the bucket and puts it under the fire alarm. And then the fire alarm starts ringing. There is a lot of chatter going on and people are starting to head towards the exit.  
“Alright, eyes open.” Mac says. The three of them split up. There are a lot of people so it’s gonna be hard to spot Kendrick. But luck is on their side. Mac goes over to the stairs to search and then he sees him. Kendrick is below Mac with a blonde woman with curly hair. Kendrick spots Mac, grabs the woman’s hand and starts running.  
“Nikki! Jack!” Mac can’t see them. So he starts running after Kendrick and the woman. They go through a door that leads into an alley way. The woman is in front of Kendrick. They are both fast. Mac accidently hits a man which falls down on the ground. But he can’t stop now because Kendrick and the woman turned right. When Mac does the same he sees Kendrick putting the woman in the car and closing the door. The car goes off while Kendrick gets his gun and starts shooting at Mac. Mac runs into another alley way to only see a fence at the end. He is trapped. He hides behind a dumpster. He hears footsteps getting closer. ‘One shot. Don’t mess up.’ he said to himself. When Kendrick is next to the dumpster, Mac gets out of cover and launches for Kendrick. He grabs his rams and with his leg he hits him right in the nuts. Kendrick releases the pressure from the gun which Mac takes it and knocks Kendrick out with it. Then he hears footsteps behind him. When he turns around he sees Jack and Nikki running towards them with Jack holding his gun.  
“What happened?” Jack asked. He is out of breath from the running.  
Mac trying to breath a bit before answering. “He had a partner. Blonde woman with curly hair. She got in the car with virus probably. Kendrick came after me and I knocked him out. He can tell us everything.” Mac said.  
“Well then…let’s wake sleeping beauty here and have a little chat.” Jack says. He goes over to Kendrick, picks him up and puts him in the back of a van they got when they arrived in San Francisco. Jack throws a fist in Kendrick face and he wakes up with a grunt.  
“Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty.” Jack says. Kendrick looks at Jack and Mac who are standing in front of him. Then he sees Nikki on his left looking at him. He smiles at her without Jack and Mac noticing.  
“Hey. Hey!” Mac shouts while snapping his fingers in front of Kendrick’s face. Kendrick glances at him. “Where is the virus?” Mac asked. Kendrick doesn’t say anything and just stares at Mac.  
Jack sighs, picks up a nail gun, and fires it between Kendrick’s legs. Kendrick flinches and looks at Jack. “Oh, we got your attention now?” Jack asks.  
“Andrea has the virus. I don’t know where it is.” Kendrick says. Jack is not buying it.  
“So the woman’s name is Andrea.” Mac says.  
“Since you’re the bad guy, I’m gonna reserve my right not to believe anything…” he fires the gun again and Kendrick flinches. “that you say.” Jack says. ‘Damn, he’s vicious.’ Mac thought.  
“Andrea wanted to meet the buyer alone. She thought it’d be safer if we met up after the transaction. I swear.” Kendrick says.  
“You swear? Really? Why do guys like you always try to convince guys like me that you are being honest?” Jack asks. Kendrick looks down. “Hey look at me.” Kendrick glances at Jack. “You’re not honest. That’s why you got another tool between your legs right now.”  
“You killed a good man. Reese did not deserve to die!” Mac says. He really wants to punch the guy and break his nose.  
“You think guys like me really care if the person they killed was good or bad?” Kendrick says as he receives a hard punch in his left cheek from Jack.  
“You got enough?” Mac asks Nikki.  
“Every phoneme in the English language.” she says as she smiles at Mac.  
“What did yo…” he couldn’t finish the question because Mac putted on duct tape on his mouth. Mac throws a right punch at him knocking Kendrick out. ‘That felt good’.  
Mac searches his pockets and finds his phone. He throws it to Nikki. “Check the last call on that. It’s going to be Andrea.”  
Nikki searches for the contacts on the phone but she only finds one. “Eliza Pittsinger.”  
“Call her.” Mac said.  
Nikki dials the number. After a few rings they hear a woman with an american accent. “What happened?” she asks. They can hear planes in the backround.  
Nikki types fast on the keyboard and the computer recreates Kendrick’s voice. “I took care of them. They won’t bother us anymore. Where are you?”  
“I’m at the airport. I have to go. I’ll see you in New York.” she says and she hangs up.  
“Ahhh. I couldn’t trace it. Call was voice over IP, rather using TOR.” Nikki said.  
“Okay, she said she was at an airport.” Mac said.  
“Alright, I’ll look for cell towers at San Francisco International.” Nikki said.  
“No, no.” Jack said. Mac and Nikki glance at him. “She is not at SFO. Those engines were to small to be commercial. I heard a Bell Ranger. Look for the nearest private airport, one that services planes and choppers”  
Nikki starts typing and then her laptop pings. “Got something. It’s in San Carlos, ten minutes from here.”  
“Call Matty, tell her to ground all airplanes in the area. We can’t let that virus leave the city.” Mac said.

Jack is breaking every rule possible. Running on red lights, breaking the speed limit, driving on the wrong lane. But millions of lives are at stake. If they lose that virus, they might never get it back.  
“You sure know…how to drive.” Nikki said as she is moving everywhere in the back seat. They reach the private airport but there is a fence. Though that doesn’t stop Jack.  
“Hang on!” he shouts. Jack barges into the fence breaking it. They enter the airport and Jack stops the van. Mac gets out and sees the plane is preparing to take off. So he starts running towards it.  
“Hey!” Jack shouts at Mac. But Mac keeps on going. “What is he thinking?”  
“Something crazy as usual.” Nikki says as they both watch Mac grab on the wheels that are meant for landing and the next thing he knows, he is up in the air. Mac is afraid of heights. A lot. So the last thing he needs is to look down. He sees the electronics and hydraulics. He cuts some wires and the plane starts turning around heading for San Carlos. When the plane lands he stumbles on the ground.  
“You are insane, man.” Jack says. Mac opens the door of the airplane. He gets in and sees a blonde woman standing in front of him. Andrea.  
“Where is the virus?” Mac asks her. She doesn’t answer though. “Tear this place apart.” Mac tells Jack and Nikki. And they do so. Mac goes over and starts searching her. She doesn’t seem nervous though. At all. ‘Something’s wrong’.  
“It’s not here is it?” he asks her. She doesn’t answer but by her face he can tell he is right. “Guys, stop searching. She already sold it.”  
“Son of a bitch.” Jack said with a low voice.

When the police arrive, they take Andrea. They call Matty to fill her in and she wasn’t happy at all.  
“So, you’re telling me that Andrea sold the virus to Chen and we don’t know when or where he is gonna release it?” Matty asked with a raised voice just to let them know that she is furious.  
“I know it looks bad…” Jack says but gets interrupted by Matty.  
“Bad?! Jack, bad is when you accidently run over your neighbor’s cat. This is a damn catastrophe of biblical proportions.” Matty says. And that’s when it hits Mac. Catastrophe. Eliza Pittsinger.  
“It’s here. The target’s San Francisco.” Mac says. He turns and goes over to where Andrea is being put in a police car. “Chen is planning on releasing the virus here isn’t he?” he asks Andrea.  
“You are wrong. It’s Tokyo.” Andrea says.  
“Oh, you are lying. Eliza A. Pittsinger. I saw it on Kendrick’s phone but I didn’t realize it until now. Pittsinger wrote a poem in 1907 on the anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake. Over 3000 people died in the fires.”  
“We are running out of time here Mac.” Jack says  
“Even if you find it the people I work for will stop nothing to get it back.” Andrea says.  
“Oh, we’ll see about that.” Jack says.  
“Where is Chen?” Mac asks Andrea. She remains silent and gives him and evil smile. “Okay, you are not going anywhere. Chen will release the virus here and then we all die. You too.” Mac says and he sees the worry in her face. “So what’s it gonna be?”  
“Can’t we just look at the airport security cameras and follow the vehicle from there?” Jack says. Mac glances at him and Jack shrugs.  
“That’s brilliant!” Mac says.

3 miles away from San Francisco 

Mac and Jack are in a chopper. Jack is flying looking for the truck they saw on the security footage from the airport. Nikki is with the police on there way. Mac is looking below them and he sees it.  
“There it is!” Mac shouts. “That’s the truck.”  
“Okay, hang on!” Jack shouts.  
As Jack lowers the chopper he is a little bit above the truck. Mac jumps on to the truck and heads to the back. When he gets there he sees the canister. But it’s attached to a bomb.  
“Crap!! Jack, we got a problem.” Mac says.  
“What kind of problem?”  
“The kind you don’t want to be anywhere near. Chen is using an IED to send the virus airborne. It’ll kill millions.” Jack can hear that Mac is worried.  
“Well, can you stop it?”  
“I don’t know. You should probably get out of here.”  
“No way, man. I’m not gonna do that.”  
“Jack…” Mac gets interrupted by Jack.  
“Hey, listen to me. I’m not leaving you, you understand me? This is what Army trained you for. Now get to work.”  
Mac opens a little box and sees wires. A lot of wires. Not only that, they are the same color aswell.  
“Great. I’ve got about 12 wires here and they are all green.” Mac says. Jack sees somebody climbing on top of the truck.  
“Well, you better pick one quick. Someone is coming down the chimney, and it isn’t Santa Claus.” Jack says.  
‘Great. Well let’s hope I’m lucky today.’ Mac said to himself. He picks one and cuts it. Then he hears beeping. ‘I’m so not lucky today’. Then he hears somebody climbing in the back behind him. He turns around and then he feels a sharp pain on his right cheek. He gets up quickly and has a fist fight with the guy. Somehow there is a hand on his throat and he is struggling to breath.  
“Hey Mac! Catch!!” Jack shouts.  
Mac hears something hitting the ground next to him. A gun. He picks up the gun, barely, and hits the guy in the face with it. The guy falls from the truck onto the highway.  
“That’s not exactly what I had in mind.” Jack says jokingly.  
“Thanks.” Mac says.  
“Yeah, save it for later. You still have work to do.” Jack says.  
Mac pulls out a bent paperclip out of his pocket. “Stopping the bomb is out of the question.” he says. He uses the paperclip to free the virus. Now that he got the virus how is he gonna get of this truck?  
“Jump out, kid!” Jack shouts.  
“I can’t risk shattering the container and releasing the virus.” Mac says. But he has an idea. 30 seconds on the clock. He takes out his knife and starts cutting the canvas. He adds some tie downs and builds a parachute. He jumps and the wind carries him away from the truck. He lands on his back. Then he hears a loud boom and parts from the truck landing near him. Luckily nothing hit him. He sees the chopper landing and then Jack running towards him.  
“You okay?” Jack shouts.  
“Yeah.”  
Jack gives him a hand so he can get back up on his feet. “You are a one crazy dude man. Great job.” he says as he puts a hand on his shoulder.  
They hear sirens in the backround. Nikki arrived with the police. She gets out of the car and runs towards Mac and hugs him tightly.  
“Let’s go home.” Nikki said.  
“Agreed.” Mac said to her.

Mac invited Jack over at his house. He told Jack that it was a regular thing. After a successful mission they all go to Mac’s house to have a beer. Mac, Jack, Nikki, Bozer, Leanna and Matty are sitting at the fire pit, talking about previous missions, getting to know each other. After 2 hours Jack goes to Diane’s and Riley’s place. He wants to tell Diane about his job. He knows it’s risky but he trusts Diane, and he doesn’t want to lie to her. But Riley is a different story. He rings on the doorbell. As the door opens he sees Diane with a big smile on her face.  
“Hey.” she says and she leans forward to kiss him.  
“Hey.” Jack grins.  
Behind he sees Riley coming out of her room. She is so happy to see him. She runs towards him and hugs him tightly. Jack can barely breath.  
“Hey, baby girl.” Jack says.  
“I got this new game I downloaded. You wanna play together?” Riley asks him.  
“Oh, I would love to.” he says, pushing some of her hair away from her eye. “I just need to talk to your mother for a second. You go and set everything up.” Riley nods and goes to set up the playstation. “Wait, what kind of a game is it?”  
“Racing game” Riley says.  
“Oh…prepare to lose.” Jack says with a smile.  
“You wish.” Riley says with the biggest smile Jack has ever seen. ‘I love that girl. How can nobody want to hang out with her? She is smart, beautiful, funny’ he thought. Jack puts a hand on Diane’s back and leads her in the kitchen.  
“What’s going on? Everything okay?” Diane asks.  
“What I’m about to tell you, you can’t tell to anyone okay?” Jack says and Diane nods. “I got a new job. At a secret spy organization.” Jack says and he sees Diane raising her eyebrows in shock.  
“Secret spy organization?” Diane asks.  
“Yes. But you can’t tell anyone. Promise me. I’m telling you this because I don’t want to keep secrets from you. I’m not gonna tell Riley okay? I don’t want to worry her. Promise me you won’t tell anyone.” Jack says.  
“Yeah…I-I promise.” Diane says. Jack puts his hand on her cheek and leans forward to kiss her on the lips.  
“Alright, I think I have a race coming up.” He says with a smile. Diane chuckles.


	2. Metal Saw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 2. A longer one than chapter 1. I hope you are enjoying cause things are gonna get interesting from here. :D

It’s been 3 months since we retrieved the virus. Ever since then we didn’t have very extreme missions like that one. Me, Mac and Nikki were getting along. I know how they work now, especially Mac. After every mission, we went to Mac’s place. Mac told me that there is no need to knock. But I still knocked the first couple of times. I thought it was rude not to knock. We were making fun of each other, working together perfectly. Today we went to North Korea to track down a cyber terrorist called Python. We got him. But getting out of the country was not very easy.

Jack driving like a maniac as usual. They were being chased by soldiers from North Korea. Mac and Jack were in an armored car driving as fast as they can while getting shot at. They had Python in the trunk. Mac had a bottle in between his legs and putting some kind of powder in it.  
“Any chance you could smooth out that ride?” Mac asked.  
“Yeah, I’m trying.” Jack answered.  
Mac takes a hose that was connected to the gas tank. He started sucking so some of the fuel comes out so he can put it in the bottle.  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy.” Jack says as Mac spits out some fuel from his mouth. “We still need some of that go-go juice, brother.”  
Matty and Nikki were watching the action from the war room. Nikki noticed another car approaching them from behind.  
“Hey, guys. Heads up. Another car full of soldiers joined the party.” Nikki said. Mac and Jack heard her from the radio and both looked back.  
“I take it a drone strike is out of the question.” Jack said.  
“Not unless you want to start World War III.” Matty said over the radio.  
“Never mind.” Jack said.  
“Guys, don’t get killed. And remember we need the asset alive.” Matty said.  
“Yeah, Matty, we know.” Jack said.  
Jack notices Mac leaning out of the window. He must have finished what he was doing. Jack reaches and grabs his belt so he doesn’t fall out. Mac throws one bottle at the cars chasing them and Jack hears a very loud boom.  
“Whoa! What happened?” Jack asked looking at his mirrors. He can see only one car chasing them now.  
“I think I just made them angrier.” Mac asks. “Give me the other bottle.”  
Jack searches for the bottle and finds it. He picks it up and hands it over to Mac. Mac takes it and throws it towards the soldiers. Jack is looking in his mirrors and sees that Mac missed.  
“You missed!” Jack shouts.  
“You wanna trade places?” Mac asks.  
“Absolutely not.”  
“Guys, DMZ is just around that corner. It looks like the border guards know you are coming in hot.” Matty says over the radio.  
Jack drifts around a corner. “Can you take out the barricade?” Jask asks Mac.  
“With what?” Mac asks as he lifts an empty bag.  
“You only brought one bag of fertilizer?”  
“That was all they had.”  
“Oh, come on! You gotta get on your A-game brother.”  
Mac glances at Jack confused. “What is that suppose to mean?”  
“You…” Jack picks up the radio and turns it off.  
Radio signal lost appears on the screen in the war room. “We lost radio contact.” Nikki says glancing at Matty.  
“Get them back online.” Matty says.  
“You have been acting weird these last few weeks man. And you’ve been distracted on missions for a while now. You want to tell me what’s going on?” Jack asks.  
Mac sighs. They know each other well enough now that they can read each other. “It’s Nikki. She’s been acting weird lately. Doesn’t want to hang out after missions at all. And I don’t know what’s going on. Haven’t you noticed?” Mac asks.  
“Yeah. I’ve noticed. But you can’t think about that on missions. And I got to be honest with you, if I’m gonna do my job, I need my partner back.” Jack says staring at Mac. He almost runs of the road because he wasn’t paying attention to the driving.  
“I’m here. You just worry about your driving.” Mac says. Jack picks up the radio and turns it back on.  
“We got signal.” Nikki says.  
“Guys…is everything alright?” Matty asks.  
“Yeah…not really.” Jack says.  
Jack sees the border in front of them. But the problem are the barricades.  
“We’re not gonna make it through those barricades.” Jack says.  
Mac puts his right hand on the steering wheel. “What the hell are you doing?” Jack shouts.  
“Improvising.” Mac says. The armored rear end of the car will survive the impact. “Put it in reverse!” Mac shouts. Jack does that. Mac turns the wheel and now they are facing backwards. They duck because bullets are flying through the glass. “Hold on, this is gonna suck!” Mac shouts.  
“It already sucks!” Jack says. They feel the collision with the barricades and Jack stops the car. They look out the window and see a dozen guns pointed at them. They hear shouting in Korean and Mac is the first to get out of the car. Jack does the same after him with his hands up in the air.  
“My name is Angus MacGyver. I work for the US government. You can call my embassy to verify my identification.”  
“Hi. I’m Jack.”  
There is loud banging coming from the trunk. Jack and Mac almost forgot that there was a cyber terrorist in there. One of the soldiers from South Korea goes and opens the trunk. He lifts out a young male.  
“Uh…that there is Python. I’m-I’m sure he has a real name but I honestly can’t remember it under the circumstances.” Jack says.  
“He’s a cyber terrorist. One of Interpol’s most wanted. He tried to melt down your nuclear reactors a couple of months ago.” Mac says.  
“A…Am-Among other…pretty fun things.” Jack added.  
The leader shouts something in Korean and the soldier takes Python. The soldiers from North Korea get back in their car and drive off. The leader of the soldiers from South Korea waves his hand to Mac and Jack as a sign to come with them. Jack and Mac put their hands down. Jack offers a fist bump and Mac accepts it. 

2 days later

Mac is sleeping peacefully on a couch. Dreaming about being on a sunny beach instead of getting shot. That dream comes to an end though because he hears footsteps approaching him. He slowly opens his eyes and sees an Asian guy dressed as a general walking towards him. He picks up the remote that was on the table next to him and throws it at the general. The remote hits him in the stomach and Mac tackles him. He is on top of him ready to throw a punch when he hears a familiar voice from under the mask. He takes of the mask and sees Bozer.  
“Dude! Are you crazy?” Bozer says with a smile on his face.  
“Bozer, what are you doing?” Mac says. Bozer can’t stop laughing.  
“Oh man, I thought I’d prank you with my Asian mask I’ve been working on for a while.”  
Mac sighs. “This is really good.” Mac says lifting the mask.  
“Thanks, man. And sorry for scaring you.”  
“Oh, I’ll get you back. Just you wait.”  
Then Leanna walks in the room and sees Mac on top of Bozer. Leanna clears her throat. Mac quickly gets up.  
“Leanna!”  
“What are you two doing?”  
“I just scared the crap out of Mac. He attacked me. You should have seen his face.” Bozer says laughing.  
“Just you wait.” Mac whispers to Bozer.  
“Well…okay. I can see you are not ready.” she says glancing at Bozer.  
“Oh…right. Let me just go get changed.” He runs to the other bedroom where nobody sleeps in since Mac lives alone. Bozer’s general clothes were at Mac’s house. He lived with Leanna for a while now.  
“Where are you two going?” Mac asks Leanna.  
“We are gonna go have lunch.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
“What will you do?”  
“Sleep. Well…try at least.” he says as he lays down on the couch.  
30 minutes have past. Mac hasn’t fallen asleep. Bozer and Leanna left 20 minutes ago. He decided to call Nikki to see if she wants to hang out. He dials her number and she picks up.  
“Hey, Nikki. What you up to?” Mac asks.  
“Nothing.” Nikki says. She answered immediately and Mac found that weird.  
“Well…okay. I was wondering if you want to hang out.”  
“No. I’m busy.” ‘Okay. She is hiding something’ Mac thought. “I have to go now Mac. Bye.” She says and she hangs up.  
“What the hell is going on.” he says in a quiet voice.

Diane’s apartment

Jack is in love with the new racing game Riley download it. Instead of Riley asking him if he wants to play, he asks her. Jack barely goes to his apartment. Only at night so he can sleep. If he doesn’t go to work he stays with Diane and Riley all day. Somedays they go out to have lunch.  
Jack sighs in frustration. He is losing to Riley. He just can’t find the rhythm on the track they are racing. Lucky for him Riley makes a mistake. He catches up to her and they were side by side on a straight, until Riley decides to swerve and take him out.  
“Hey…that’s not fair.” Jack says smiling at her. Riley laughs. She loves when she takes out Jack.  
Diane shouts from the kitchen “Dinner’s ready.”  
“Just one more.” Jack says.  
“Nope.”  
“A short one.”  
“Nope.”  
“Fine.” Jack says as he gets up. He and Riley make their way towards the table. After 5 minutes Diane speaks up.  
“Riley, did you tell Jack?”  
Jack swallows his bite. “About?” glancing at Riley.  
“I found a job. I’m starting tomorrow.” Riley says.  
“Really? That’s great Ri.” He says with a grin.  
“Yeah but…I’m nervous and…scared.” Riley says.  
Jack reaches for her hand. “Don’t be. You are gonna do great. I know you will.” Riley smiles at him and hugs him tight. “So what is this job?” Jack asks.  
“It’s a store for repairing computers, phones, laptops, tablets. It’s called “Silicon Value”.  
“Okay. Hey, listen. You are gonna be great.” Jack says as he kisses her forehead. “Well, it’s late so I better get going. Diane, lovely dinner as always” he says as he kisses her on the lips. “Goodnight kiddo, and good luck tomorrow.”  
“Thanks, Jack.” Riley says.

2 days later 

Mac’s laptop broke. He was working on something and all of the sudden a blue screen with a lot of text came up. He didn’t understand anything. He doesn’t know how to fix this. So he decides to go to a computer repair store. But he didn’t know any. So he hopped in his car and started searching. The first one he finds, that’s where he will go. And he finds one. Silicon Value.  
He enters the store and sees only two people in front of him. He hopes they won’t take long. The next thing he sees is a young woman, with black curly hair, brown eyes. She is pretty. That’s what Mac thought too. ‘She is the same age as me probably’. When the woman hands over the laptop to the customer, he throws the money in her face. The money falls to the ground. The guy gets his laptop and walks out laughing. Mac glances at her, she rubs the back of her neck with her hand and she leans down to get the money. Mac wanted to say something to the scumbag but he remained cool. The last thing he needed was to cause drama and make the woman more uncomfortable. He hears her shaky voice asking the guy in front of Mac what was the problem. Mac is getting bad, bad memories from his childhood right now. He knows how she feels. 5 minutes have past. Mac was sitting on a chair. Thankfully the man’s phone didn’t have a huge problem.  
“You are very beautiful. You wanna get a drink tonight?” the man asks the woman.  
“Um…no thanks.” the woman answers.  
“Hey. Are you shy? Why are you shy? Don’t be.”  
“Your phone is fixed.” she says with a shaky voice. Mac heard the shaky voice and glances at them.  
“Oh, come on baby. You look like a girl that wants to have fun tonight.” he says and she flinches. And that was the trigger point for Mac to stand up and stop this. Who even is this skinny bastard? Does he even have meat on him?  
“Hey, are you done?” Mac asks the man. The man turns around and looks Mac in the eyes.  
“We are kind of having conversation here, bro.”  
“Well, you better watch your mouth and get out of here before I break all of your bones and I make that face uglier than it is now.” Mac says giving him a death stare. The man picks up his phone and leaves the store. Mac glancing at the door he hears a “thank you” with a shaky voice. Mac turns to face her and he sees her eyes watery. ‘Damn it.’ “Uh…what problem do you have?” she asks.  
“Um…I don’t know really. I was working and all of a sudden a blue screen appears.” Mac says. She reaches for the laptop, opens it and sees the problem.  
“It’s…” she wipes a tear from her cheek. Mac watches her with sadness. His chest feels tight. She has a badge on the left of her chest with her name. Riley. “It’s easily fixable. Um…it’s gonna be done in 10 minutes.” she says.  
“Great.” Mac says. Riley takes the laptop and starts typing. Mac makes his way over to the chairs. While waiting, he can hear sniffs and when he glances at her she keeps brushing her cheeks with her hand. Mac was bullied in school. Kids were avoiding him cause everyone could tell that he was different. His name didn’t help either. He didn’t have friends in school. So instead spending time with the kids, he spent time with Mr. Ericson. And then Bozer came into his life. Because of all these memories coming back he didn’t hear Riley calling him.  
“Sir, your laptop is fixed.”  
“Oh.” he says. He quickly stands up and walks over to her. She doesn’t make eye contact with him. And he knows why. He could see those watery brown eyes from a mile away. ‘A pretty girl getting treated like that. Donnie…..’ he snaps out of the thought when Riley tells him how much money. Donnie was Mac’s ninth grade bully. Mac didn’t have a great time with him. Mac gives the money to Riley. Riley starts getting the change but Mac stops her. “Keep the change.” Riley makes eye contact with him and he smiles a little. He picks up his laptop and makes his way towards the door until he hears a shaky voice from behind him.  
“Hey, um…if you don’t mind me asking. Why did you do that?” Riley asks while rubbing her left upper arm with her right hand.  
Mac knows exactly what she is referring to. “Experience.” he says. Riley nods and drops her head. Mac walks out of the store and climbs into his car. He exhales so he can calm down. When he gets home, he sets down the laptop on the table. He didn’t save his work so he has to start all over again. But his phone rings. It’s a text from Matty.  
“New mission. War room, now.” Mac quickly takes his keys and storms off.

Department of External Services (DXS)

Mac arrived at DXS. When he entered the war room he saw Nikki sitting in a chair and Matty doing something on her tablet.  
“Hey.” Mac says.  
“Hey.” Nikki responds not making eye contact with him. Mac notices that. Matty turns around to look at Mac.  
“Nice of you to join us, Blondie.” Matty says. “When Jack arrives we will begin.”  
2 minutes later Jack arrives. He is out of breath. “Hello, Jack.” Matty says.  
“Sorry I’m late.” Jack says as he sits down on the chair that is next to where Mac is sitting.  
“We have a situation in Venezuela.” Matty says. She brings up a newspaper on the screen.  
“Oh, I just saw this on the internet. Venezuelan secret police arrested a reporter and thrown her in some prison, saying she is an American spy. The story is everywhere. #HurryHomeHannah is trending.” Nikki says.  
Mac picks up a paperclip a bowl full of paperclips that’s on the table. He starts fiddling with it when Jack speaks up. “Come on, now. This is just another example of a corrupt government making up excuses to justify illegally holding a US citizen.”  
“Not just any citizen. She’s a spy.” Matty says. She presses on her tablet and a familiar face to Jack appears on the screen. “Her name is Sarah Adler.” Jack slowly stands up from the chair and walks towards the screen with a slightly open mouth and worry in his eyes. “I’m sorry Jack.”  
“How do you know her?” Nikki asks.  
“We um…we…she was my partner at the CIA.” Jack answers still staring at the screen.  
“Oh, so this is Sarah?” Mac asks.  
“What was she doing in Venezuela?” Jack asks Matty.  
“Agent Adler was sent in to confirm rumors, that international arms dealer, Alfredo Barrios, was now running his operation from Caracas. Two days ago, we got word from her.” Matty says as she puts up two pictures of Alfredo Barrios. “Barrios was there.”  
“So what happened? She make a move on him and something went wrong or what?” Jack asks.  
“Sarah was tasked with intel gathering only. The CIA wants enough information to destroy the entire Barrios network. And Sarah got it. Her last message mentioned a ledger she had stolen, detailing every Barrios buyer and supplier, including terrorist sleeper calls.” Matty says.  
“Well that should be enough for the CIA to arrest Barrios and destroy his network.” Mac says.  
“It would be. But Sarah was taken before she could get to exfil.” Matty says.  
“Where are they keeping her now?” Nikki asks.  
“We don’t know. Venezuela is not exactly a friendly place for Americans these days. Especially those who are accused of being a US spy.” Matty says and Jack flinches. ‘I can’t imagine what are they doing to her’. “Which is why the CIA was forced to disavow her.” Jack drops his head. “The US government can’t go anywhere near this, or they risk blowing her cover. It’s why they asked DXS to come in.” Matty says glancing at Jack. “We are Sarah’s agency of last resort. If we don’t find her…” Nikki cuts in.  
“She will die.”  
“That’s not gonna happen.” Jack says. Mac sets down the paperclip on the table. It looks like a Phoenix.  
“Matty, don’t throw this one away. I wanna keep it.” he says pointing at the paperclip. Matty just nods.

DXS jet

Jack and Sarah have known each other for years. They went to the Farm together, been partners at the CIA before Jack was fired, and have been together in some pretty sketchy situations.

Belarus 

Jack and Sarah were surrounded. They were taking cover in a house under a window. The glass shattering above them from the bullets flying in the house.  
“You sure you want to do this?!” Jack shouts as he gets up and takes a couple of shots. He hits one enemy and ducks to reload the gun.  
“Having second thoughts, cowboy?” Sarah says as she reloads her gun.  
“There is a lot of unfriendly people out there.” Jack says  
“Like that has ever stopped you before.” Sarah says while smiling. “We are getting out of here alive.”  
“Hell yeah, we are.” Jack says as he cocks his gun. He exhales “On three. One, two…” Sarah jumps outside and starts firing. “…three?” and Jack follows her. 

The jet caught some turbulence and that made Jack come back to the present. Jack closes his eyes tightly and then opens them and sees Mac sitting across from him.  
“Are you okay?” Mac asks him. Jack looks outside the window to see the blue skies and white clouds.  
Jack sighs. “I was thinking about Belarus. I told you about that I think.”  
“When those mercs had you and Sarah pinned now?”  
“Closest I ever came to coming home in a box.” Jack looks out the window again and shakes his head trying to hold back tears. “That woman is the only reason I got home in time to say goodbye to my dad…before he passed.” Jack says with a shaky voice.  
Mac leans forward. “Hey. We will find her. I promise.” he says. Jack nods. Nikki sees Jack’s watery eyes but decides not to ask.  
“Pilot says we are 30 minutes from landing. Jack, you sure your contact knows where to find Sarah?” Nikki asks.  
“Yeah. I used to work in South America back in the day.”  
“Oh, like when they invented fire?” Nikki asks trying to bright up the mood.  
“Hmm, maybe a couple of years after that.” Mac says smiling. They always joked about Jack’s age.  
“Okay, when you’re both done reminding me that I’m the only one here with wisdom,” he says as he puts a hand on his chest, “I’ll tell you about my contact.” he leans forward and puts on his serious face. “Nothing happens in Caracas without him knowing about it. Nothing. And luckily for you two, he and I are BFFs.” 

Some bar in Caracas

Jack takes a huge right fist into his face. He stumbles on the ground feeling the blood dripping out from his nose. When he opens his eyes, there is a man, bald, muscly, smoking a cigar.  
“Jack Dalton. I thought I told you to stay out of my bar.” the man says. When his vision gets better he recognizes the guy.  
“Marco?” Jack says weakly. “I thought you were dead. You survived all four bullets, huh?” Mac is just sitting there, confused as to what they are talking about. Jack never mentioned Marco. Mac was drinking a beer and Nikki was waiting outside in the car for getaway.  
“You shot me five times, Jack.” Marco says.  
“Oh, I can’t even tell. You look fantastic.” Jack says as he struggles to get up.  
“I suggest the two of you go. We don’t serve your kind here.”  
“Well, it’s good to see you still keep honest riffraff like us out of this cesspool of a bar of yours.” Jack says.  
Marco grabs Jack shirt preparing for another punch. “I’m not gonna ask you again.” Marco says.  
“All I want to do is, talk to my good pal Julio over there.” Jack says as he points to a man behind Marco.  
“Julio?” Marco asks and he chuckles. “Hey Julio. You want to talk to Jack and his friend?”  
Julio raises his eyebrows and just simply answers “No.”  
“You heard the man. Now leave!” Marco says as he pushes Jack for two guys to grab him. “Show him out boys, and make sure he bleeds.”  
Meanwhile Mac slides his bottle of beer into some other bottles of alcohol. It was wet everywhere with a mix of 4 different drinks. Mac grabs Marco’s cigar out of his mouth and puts it in the liquid. Then there is fire. The plan was to distract everyone in the bar. And it worked. Then Mac and Jack started fighting with the guys and Marco. Jack knocked out Marco while Mac knocked some other guy out. While they were fighting Julio made a run for it. Mac and Jack started chasing them.  
“No one, I mean no one likes a bar fight better than me, but you almost burned as alive man.” Jack says.  
“I had no choice.”  
“You’re gonna kill us before Marco does.”  
They were catching Julio, but slowly. When Julio makes a turn though he smashed into a car door. Mac and Jack catch up and saw Nikki in the car. Nikki glancing at them.  
“You two should go on some treadmills.” Nikki said smiling. Mac and Jack trying to catch their breath both grin at her.

With the information Julio gave them, they ended up at some building outside of the city.  
“Julio was right. Something is definitely going on inside there. I got live cameras, motion detectors, laser sensors.” Nikki says.  
“Definitely a black site.” Mac says.  
“Yep.” Nikki brings up the footage from inside the building.  
“How did you do that?” Jack asks.  
“I used signal strength to determine which Wi-Fi network was theirs, then used a rainbow table to reset the password and gave myself complete access.” Nikki says.  
“That’s so cool.” Jack says with a smile.  
Mac spots two guards guiding a woman in the hallway. “There’s Sarah” he says while pointing on the screen. Jack glances at the screen.  
“Yeah.” Jack adds.  
“Good news is we found her. Bad news is there is no obvious way in.” Nikki says.  
“Can you pull up an overhead sat image?” Mac asks.  
“Yeah.”  
“What are you thinking?” Jack asks Mac. He knows it’s something crazy but how crazy. Mac is glancing at the building then at the laptop screen.  
“You see that? It’s an elevator. Most hospitals have one straight from the alley to the morgue so the patience don’t have to see dead bodies. That’s our way in.” Mac says. Jack is looking at the door of the elevator with binoculars.  
“Well we can’t. From what I can see street level access to that elevator is sealed from what can be described as a giant metal plate bolted directly into the brick.” Jack says.  
But that doesn’t stop Mac. He spots a car parked outside the building. He runs to it, opens the hood, and takes the battery. Mac and Jack run to the elevator.  
“How much change do you have?” Mac asks Jack. Jack checks his pockets and hands him all the change he has. Meanwhile Nikki is watching the cameras when her phone starts ringing. It’s an unknown number but she knows exactly who it is. She picks up the phone and answers.  
“I can’t talk right now. I’m on a mission.” Nikki says.  
“Fine.” a voice says from the other end of the call. Nikki hangs up. Then she hears Mac over the comms.  
“You watch the perimeter. I’ll radio as soon as I find her.” Mac says. Jack nods.  
“Alright”. Mac jumps and catches the cables. He goes down to the bottom and opens the elevator doors to the last underground floor.  
“Alright. Nikki, you’re my eyes.” Mac says.  
“I can get you right to Sarah, but there are two problems. One, those surveillance cameras are everywhere. The second one are the guards. There are like a dozen. I can disable any camera you want, but I can’t do anything about the guards.” Nikki says.  
Mac opens up the door slightly so he can see what is going on outside. He doesn’t see any guards. Then he hears footsteps. He closes the door and hears 2 guards going past. Mac knew Spanish language so he knows what they are saying. One of the guards was telling the other one how he kicked some kid’s ass while he was in school. Then all the memories are popping back into Mac’s head. How Donnie pulled his hair, hit him in the head hard with a ball, demanding Mac to do his homework. Everyone laughing at him when Donnie did something to him. And then he remembers the girl Riley. From the computer repair store. He can remember her shaky voice, how that guy threw the money in her face. He comes back to the present when he hears Nikki’s voice.  
“Mac, what do you want me to do? Or should I ask you again for a sixth time?” Nikki says. ‘Sixth time?’ Mac thought.  
“Um…can you cut the power to the building?” Mac asks Nikki.  
“Finally an answer. And yes, shouldn’t be a problem.”  
“Hey, not to poke holes in your plan Mac, but if Nikki blinds the guards, she blinds you two remember?” Jack says.  
Mac opens the door again and spots two cameras on the wall. “Maybe not.” Mac walks out in the hallway. He grabs a chair, climbs on it and takes the two cameras. He get back into the room and starts searching for the stuff he needs. After finding everything he needs and doing what he does best, he makes a pair of ugly ass glasses that boost ambient light and let you see in the dark.  
“Okay Nikki, cut the power.” Mac says.  
“Copy. Cutting power in three, two, one.” And everything goes black.  
Mac puts on the glasses and sighs in relief that they actually work. Mac opens the door and hears a lot of shouting and cursing in Spanish. He sees a couple of guards holding their guns moving all around.  
“At the end of that corridor, Sarah’s cell should be on your left.” Nikki says over the comms.  
Mac takes a peak and sees a guard standing in front of Sarah’s cell with a flashlight. Mac almost gets caught but thankfully the guard didn’t see him. When the guard was facing the other way Mac slowly grabbed a pipe, and knocked the guard out. He takes the flashlight. He opens the cell door and goes in.  
“Sarah?” he called with a whisper. What he didn’t expect was Sarah to grab him, put an arm around his neck and takes the flashlight.  
“You’re not a guard. Who are you and how do you know my name?” Sarah asks.  
“I’m Angus MacGyver. I’m with DXS.” Sarah puts a little more force and Mac is struggling to breath.  
“What’s that?” Sarah asks.  
“US covert ops. I’m actually here to rescue you.”  
“If you’re with the government, then why are you alone?”  
“I’m not, I’m…” he can barely speak, “I’m with…I’m with Jack.” Sarah lets him go. Mac coughs a little and tries to breath.  
“Dalton? Jack Dalton came for me?”  
“Yes. And if you wanna see him again, you need to come with me.” Sarah stayed silent looking curious. “Right now. Drop the flashlight and let’s go.” Sarah does that and grabs Mac’s hand. Mac walks slowly in the hallway with Sarah behind him. And then she hears Nikki.  
“They got a generator. Mac the lights are about to come on. Get out of there now!” Nikki says. Mac takes off his glasses when the lights come on. He and Sarah rush to take cover because the guards spotted them and they are now shooting at them. They are running towards the exit. Mac hits a guard that was in his way, and then Sarah knocks him out. Sarah takes the gun and they continue running. They are at the exit, but there are 4 guards guarding it. They start shooting and Mac and Sarah take cover behind a table. Sarah fires a couple of shots but it’s no use.  
“We need another exit.” Sarah says. That’s when they hear a loud crash and the shooting stopped. They got up and they saw a car in the building. Jack and Nikki were in the car with Jack driving.  
“Anyone called for an Uber?” Jack shouts. Mac and Sarah run towards the car while Jack covers them. Nikki start shooting too. Mac and Sarah got in the car and Jack slams it in reverse.  
“Nice to see you again Jack.” Sarah says.  
“I thought you got out of the business.” Jack says.  
“He wanted kids. I wasn’t ready.”  
“I agree this woman should not have kids.” Nikki says  
“Yep.” Mac adds. 

On the road 

They were on their way to Sarah’s safe house. Nikki was asleep, Mac was looking out the window enjoying the nature. Jack and Sarah were in the front. Jack focusing on the road. Nobody was talking and Sarah decided to break the silence.  
“You didn’t owe me anything, Jack.” Sarah says. Jack shakes his head and glances at her. “But thank you. I thought I was done this time.”  
“You kidding? We’ve been through worst situations. Remember Finland?” Jack asks smiling.  
“Please, don’t remind me. It was your fault we got caught there.” She says and chuckles.  
“Well…okay, yeah. But I got us out.”  
“No, you did not.” Sarah says and hits him in the shoulder. “It was me that got us out of that hellhole.”  
They continued to talk about past missions. Mac didn’t hear any of it. He was lost in his past. Everything about the bullying and about Riley…he just can’t get it out of his head. He is wondering if he should go see Riley again when they get back. But now that he didn’t have any problems so she can fix, he’ll go just before the store closes. Hopefully that will be Riley’s shift.  
Jack wasn’t paying attention to the road because she was looking at Sarah while she was talking about a past mission of hers. Because he wasn’t paying attention he almost hit a car. He swerved aggressively to avoid it. That brought back Mac to the present and woken up Nikki.  
“My bad. My bad.” Jack says.  
Nikki groans. Her neck hurts from the awkward position she was in while she was sleeping. “Are we here?” Nikki asks.  
“Just right up here.” Sarah tells Jack.  
Jack parks the car. “I’m on the second floor. I’ve been renting a room from a local.” Sarah says  
“Can you trust him?” Jack asks.  
“With my life.”  
As Sarah starts climbing the stairs and Nikki follows her, Jack grabs Mac’s hand to stop him.  
“Hey, you alright? You’ve been acting weird since we got Sarah out.” Jack says.  
“What do you mean?” Mac asks.  
“I mean…you’ve been very quiet, lost in your mind somewhere glancing out of the window on the trip.” Jack can read Mac like a book.  
“It’s nothing, Jack.”  
“You know I can tell when you are lying to me right?”  
Before Mac can say something they hear Sarah shout. They both run up the stairs to see Sarah and Nikki with their guns in their hands. Jack picks his one up too. He sees the whole apartment trashed.  
“Luis?!” Sarah shouts as she runs up the stairs.  
“Don’t go…Sarah!” Jack shouts as he starts chasing her. When they got upstairs they can see an old man tied up in a chair with blood on his face not moving.  
“No…” Sarah says with so much pain in her voice.  
“Oh, god” Nikki says as she puts a hand on her mouth and turns away.  
“He wasn’t a part of this. He didn’t know anything.” Sarah says with a shaky voice.  
Mac goes next to the man. “Wounds are still fresh. Someone tortured him to death within the last 24 hours.”  
“It was Barrios.” Sarah says. She feels a hand on her shoulder. She turns around and sees Jack next to her.  
“I’m so sorry.” Jack says.  
They all here sirens approaching. “We got company. We should get out of here.” Nikki says.  
Sarah runs down the stairs. She picks up a chair and climbs on it. There is a section in the wall where you can hide something small. And Sarah hid the ledger there. “There.” She throws the ledger to Mac and he catches it. “That is everything on the ledger. Go. You got what you came for.”  
“We came for the ledger and you.” Mac says.  
“I’m not leaving.”  
“Forget Barrios. This is enough to take him down.” Mac says as Sarah reloads her gun.  
“Hey, Sarah, Sarah listen to me. There is nothing you can do to bring your friend back.” Jack says.  
“This isn’t about revenge Jack. Barrios is still in town because he is looking for that ledger. As soon as he finds out I escaped, he’ll ghost. Disappear. And he’ll do all of this somewhere else.” Sarah says.  
“Yeah, but listen, we got to go through the proper…” before Jack finishes Sarah interrupts him.  
“There isn’t always time to beg some suit back home for permission to do what’s right.” Sarah snaps. “You told me that.” ‘Yeah, and that’s the reason I got fired’. Silence filled the room and then Jack spoke.  
“I’m going with her.” He says glancing at Mac and Nikki.  
“You go, I go.” Mac says as he offers a fist bump and Jack accepts it.  
“We ready to roll?” Nikki says smiling. They all head out. 

Cyber Café

Since Nikki’s laptop was hit by a bullet in the black site, she had no choice but to find the best cyber café in Caracas. She approaches the reception.  
“I want your biggest bundle of minutes. Mucho minutos, por favor.”  
“One hour, 300 bolivars.”  
“Give me eight.” She pays up and walks over to the computers.  
“You need help getting online, hermosa?”  
“No. I’ll be okay. Thanks.” Nikki sits down, plugs the ledges in the PC and starts sending all the files back to DXS. The download is gonna take 7 hours. Then Nikki’s phone rings. An unknown number. Nikki sighs in frustration.  
“I told you, I’m busy.” Nikki says.  
“When will you finish the job?” a voice from the other end asks her.  
“When I have the chance.” She says and she hangs up.

Barrios Compound

“How did you get pass all that?” Mac asks Sarah. There are about a dozen people holding machine guns and loading crates on trucks.Not to mention that the house is like a fortress too. So this was gonna be tough.  
Barrios is a pig. He loves huge parties and beautiful women. So I slipped into a little somethin’ somethin’ and walked right in.” Sarah says and Jack raises his eyebrows. “If he gets out of the country that’s it. We don’t get another shot at him.”  
“Hey, hey, I like your spunk, I do, but we’re three people with two weapons. I don’t think we stand a chance with army.” Jack says.  
“Then we’ll have to bring our own.” Mac says. Mac gets up and walks towards the car. Sarah glances at Jack.  
“Don’t ask. Just watch.” Jack tells her.  
Mac breaks of the side mirrors of the car. He takes his knife and carves two sticks and makes a riser. He takes out the magnifying glasses from the binoculars. He puts one magnifying glass on one stick, and the other on the second stick. He goes back at Barrios’s compound and puts the sticks in the ground. Mac just needs to adjust the mirrors and the sun can do it’s thing.  
“Who is this guy?” Sarah asks Jack with a quiet voice.  
“One of a kind.” He says.

Cyber Café

Nikki is bored as hell. She is just sitting there blowing her hair. She still has 5 hours left of the download. She is the only one in this café. She was thinking about taking a little nap. That’s until she spotted two SUV’s pull up in front of the café. A bunch of guys come out with machine guns.  
“Oh, crap.” Nikki gets down and hides. She takes out her gun and starts shooting. She takes out the only two people that came inside. She takes the ledger and runs to the back exit. She runs outside and spots a Jeep. She hotwires it and she is off.  
Barrios Compound

Mac adjusts the mirror perfectly. Then they here popping. They see a crate on fire and people shouting in Spanish. The crates blow up taking out a couple of men. Mac sees Barrios heading for the garage. He runs to the entrance of the house and Sarah and Jack follow him. He hears a superbike getting closer. What he didn’t expect was a Jeep at the entrance with Nikki driving.  
“Nikki?”  
“Hop in!”  
Then Barrios rides past them while they were getting in the car. “Was that Barrios?” Nikki asks.  
“Yeah, follow him. We can’t let him get away.” Mac says.  
Barrios was riding like Valentino Rossi on the road, while Nikki and the others took a shortcut off road. Mac spots Barrios.  
“There he is!” Mac shouts. Nikki steps on the gas and parks it in front of Barrios. There was a log between them and Barrios, so Barrios takes that advantage and uses the log to jump over them, which he did successfully.  
“Go!”  
Nikki turns around leaving tire marks and a lot of smoke behind them. They are going off road again because there was no point chasing a superbike on the road. They see Barrios on their left.  
“Get me as close to him as you can.” Mac says. Mac takes out his knife and cuts the camouflage netting from the Jeep. He takes a couple of wrenches. He ties the netting to the wrenches. Nikki is alongside Barrios right now and Mac throws the netting at the front wheel of the bike. They see Barrios fly off the bike. Nikki stops and they all get out the car.  
“Stop!” Sarah shouts walking toward Barrios with her gun pointed at him. Barrios is trying to crawl away but there is no use. “Turn over.” Sarah says. Jack can hear the rage inside her voice. “Look at me!” Sarah says as Barrios takes his helmet off with is eyes closed. “Look at me, you son of a bitch!!”  
“Sarah, stop.” Mac says.  
“Sarah, put the gun down.” Jack says. Sarah shakes her head. Jack walks up towards her and grabs her gun. He takes the gun and drags Sarah away from Barrios. “Come on, let’s take a walk.” Sarah is letting out the pain. Tears flowing down her cheeks while still looking at Barrios. “Hey, hey. Relax, relax.” Jack says and he pulls her into a hug. “Relax, now.”  
Mac grabs Barrios and pulls him up. He puts on the cuffs and takes him into the Jeep.  
“Let it out. Just let it out.” Jack tells Sarah who is crying while her face is buried in Jack’s shoulder. He can feel the wetness on his shirt from Sarah’s tears. “There you go. There you go.”

Department of External Services (DXS)

Mac, Jack, Nikki and Sarah all walk inside the war room to find Matty looking at them with a death stare and her arms crossed. ‘Oh, she’s pissed’ Mac said to himself.  
“You do know the mission was Sarah and the ledger, not Barrios.” Matty says.  
“That was my fault, ma’am.” Sarah says.  
“No. No, that was my idea.” Jack says.  
“Actually, it was mine.” Nikki says.  
“They’re all lying. I forced them.” Mac says.  
Matty only hummed. “But, seriously, how bad is this gonna be?” Mac asks.  
“On the record, there will be a debriefing. Oversight doesn’t like things unsanctioned. Off the record…I would’ve done the same thing.” Matty says with a smile on her face.  
“Hey.” Sarah says as she walks out. They all look outside and see a man who kisses Sarah on the lips and hugs her. Jack raises his eyebrows and then smiles. They walk outside to where Sarah and her…boyfriend are. “Guys, this is my fiancé, Jeff.”  
“Nice to meet you, Jeff.” Jack offers a hand but Jeff goes for a hug.  
“I don’t know what to say. Other than thank you. I’d thought I lost her.” Jeff says.  
“Hey, you got one of the strongest and fearless woman I know by your side. So don’t mess this up.” Jack says with a smile. They break the hug and Sarah goes and hugs Jack tightly.  
“Thank you, Jack. For everything.” Sarah says.  
“Anytime.” 

Mac’s house 21:20 AM

Just like everytime. After a successful mission, everyone goes at Mac’s house. Bozer, Leanna, and Matty were making burgers while Jack and Mac played basketball 1 on 1 outside. Jack dribbles pass Mac and scores with an easy layup.  
“How are the ankles, bro?” Jack says. Jack gives Mac the ball. “I anticipate your every move. Bring it on.”  
“If by anticipate, you mean let me posterize you, then sure. 8-8.” Mac says. Mac pushes Jack as he shoots and scores. “Woo! You know, you gotta feel bad for the defender getting punked like that.”  
“Yeah, it’s easy to score when you push of like that.” Jack says.  
“Push off? Please.” Jack throws the ball to Mac. “9-8. Game point. Got anything to say before I send you to the showers?” Mac asks.  
“Thank you.” Jack says.  
“For what?”  
“For Caracas. You…you really brought your A-game to Caracas. I appreciate that.”  
“Anytime man. And I’m sorry for getting distracted and all that stuff. About Nikki, I’m pretty sure it’s nothing, right? Even though she turned us down again tonight.”  
“So in the car you were thinking about Nikki?” Jack asks. Mac wasn’t thinking about Nikki that time, he was thinking about his past and about Riley. Which reminds him after this game he will go and see her. If her shift is now that is. And since he doesn’t want to talk about his past right now, he has to lie to Jack.  
“Yeah, but…I’m over it.” Mac says. Mac bouncing the ball he just stares Jack in the eyes. What Jack didn’t expect is that Mac doesn’t even move and makes a jumpshot and scores. “Boom! Hell yeah!”  
“Good game.” Jack says as he offers a handshake and Mac accepts it.  
“Hey guys, you done? The burgers are ready. Leanna says from the window.  
“We’re done but, I actually have to go somewhere. Just need to shower.” Mac says  
“What about poker?” Jack asks.  
“Oh, I’ll be back by then. 2 hours right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Yeah, I’ll be back. Save me a burger.”  
He quickly takes a shower, gets dressed and gets in his car. On the way to the store he is listening to some of his favorite music and he has butterflies in his stomach. ‘Why?’ he asks himself. He is nervous for meeting Riley again. He parks outside the store and gets out of the car. When he gets in the store there are no customers. And no Riley. There is a male working.  
“Hi. Can I help you?” he asks. Riley’s shift already ended. So he decided he’ll come by tomorrow.  
“Um…what shift does Riley have tomorrow?” Mac asks.  
“Oh, Riley quitted.” he says. Mac is confused.  
“Why?” Mac thinks he knows why but he decides to ask still.  
“Well…she said that the customers were…” he pauses and looks down. Mac heard enough. He knows what the guy means.  
“Thanks.” He said with pain in his voice. He feels sad and angry. As he walks towards the exit he glances at a table that had Riley’s badge on it. When she left she must have put it there. And that means that she quitted today. Mac really wants to see her again. Talk to her. But he doesn’t know where she lives and it’s hard to spot someone outside in public in a city like LA. When he gets in the car he closes the door with a bit more force. He leans back on the seat and exhales trying to calm down. When he gets home he sees Jack in the kitchen getting a beer. Jack can already tell something is wrong. It’s written all over Mac’s face.  
“2 hours turned into 30 minutes. You okay?” Jack says. It takes a moment for Mac to answer.  
“Yeah. Let’s play poker.” Mac says and gives Jack a fake smile. But Jack doesn’t get fooled. He just looks at Mac for a moment and decides not to push it.  
“Yeah. Let’s go.”  
After they finished playing poker Jack was on his way home. He decided to call Diane to see if she is awake. She answers and she doesn’t sound to happy. She sounds…sad. So Jack turned the car around and went to her apartment.  
“Hey. What’s going on?” Jack asked her as he takes her hand.  
Diane told him about Riley quitting her job. She told him the reasons she quitted. Jack was hurt. His eyes got watery while Diane was telling him everything. He sighs shakily.  
“Where is she now?” Jack asks.  
“She is in her room. Been there ever since she got home. She’s been watching movies and videos.” Diane says.  
Jack walks over to her room. He knocks and opens the door. He sees Riley on her bed with her headphones on looking at the laptop screen.  
“Hey.”  
“Hey, Jack.” She says with a smile on her face.  
“What you doing there, kiddo?”  
“I’m watching Die Hard.” Riley says. Jack eyes gone wide.  
“Seriously?” not even waiting a second he goes and jumps on the bed next to Riley. “Unplug those headphones.” He says. Riley laughs and unplugs them. Jack wrapped his arms around Riley and Riley rested her head on Jack’s chest. Diane glances at them and smiles.  
“Mom told you about me quitting my job right?” Riley asks.  
“Yeah, kiddo. I’m sorry.” Jack says as he rubs her upper arm.  
“One customer was being a jerk yesterday, and then some guy with semi long blonde hair, blue eyes stood up and confronted him.” Riley says.  
“Semi long blonde hair, blue eyes?” Jack asks. ‘Mac told me his laptop broke yesterday’.  
“Mhm. And then I asked him why he did that. And he said that he had experience from that kind of stuff.” Riley says. ‘Mac also told me that he was bullied when he was a child. He told me he didn’t have friends that time. And his only friends now are me, Matty, Bozer, Nikki and Leanna. This has to be him.’  
“Hey, would you like to meet a couple of my friends tomorrow? They are the same age as you.” Jack says glancing at her with a smile. Riley lifts her head up to look Jack in the eyes. There was a bit of silence before Riley answered.  
“Okay.”  
Jack grins and hugs her tightly. They stayed like that until the movie finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. If you liked it, leave a kudos and a comment :D Chapter 3 will be up tomorrow.


	3. Awl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 3. I hope you enjoy. Leave a comment and a kudos if you liked it :D

One day after Caracas 

It was evening. There was no mission today. So Mac was at home all day trying to make things, fix things. The usual stuff. The days that there is no mission are boring. Bozer and Leanna were at home too but now they were at Mac’s house, Jack was with his girlfriend, Matty was having meetings and stuff, and Nikki…well he didn’t know what Nikki was doing. For 3 weeks or more she’s been hanging out with them only 3 times. Something was definitely going on and he wanted to know what it is. If he asks her, she will definitely not tell the truth. Mac was taking a walk. With his headphones on he reached the top of the hill and was glancing at LA. He stayed there for a while just listening to music and admire one of the most beautiful cities in the US. Then he got a text. He opened the text that was from Jack.  
Jack: Hey, wanna hang out at your place?  
Mac: Sure, you go at my house. Bozer and Leanna are there. I’m taking a walk now. I’ll arrive after you.  
Jack: Cool. Hey you mind if I bring my girlfriend’s daughter? I want you guys to meet her.  
Mac: Yeah, of course. I’ll see you then.  
Jack: Alright man. 

On the road

Jack and Riley were on their way to Mac’s house. Jack was really excited for Riley to meet the guys. Especially Nikki, since she is the analyst in our team. But, who knows if she ever comes tonight to hang out. If Nikki doesn’t make it, then Riley can hang out with Leanna. Leanna learned some stuff from Nikki on how to hack and do other stuff on a laptop. Jack was listening to his favorite radio station Los Angeles Rock Radio, while Riley was looking out the window, being very quiet. Hasn’t said a word since they got on the road. She was rubbing her hands off her thighs very often. Jack noticed that and lowered the volume to the radio.  
“You okay, Ri?” Jack asked. Riley turned around and glanced at him.  
“Um…yeah…I’m just…nervous.” Riley said.  
“Hey, these guys are the nicest people I ever met.”  
“Okay, but…what If they don’t like me?”  
“They won’t like you,” he said and then glances at Riley with a smile, “they’ll love you.” Riley smiled at him. “There are two women that love technology.” Jack said.  
“Really?” Riley asked. Jack knows from her voice that she is a bit excited now.  
“Yeah.”  
“And the others?”  
“There are two guys. One of them just can’t shut up. He won’t stop telling you stories and how to cook the best pastrami.” Jack said. Riley laughed.  
“And the other guy?” Riley asked.  
“The other guy…well, he does everything.” Riley is making a confused face. “You’ll see what I mean.”

Mac’s apartment

Riley was more nervous than ever. She hasn’t met new people for a long time. She just hopes that these guys aren’t like those scumbags at the store. Jack didn’t ring the bell, didn’t even knocked. He just opened the door and walked right in. ‘Rude’ she thought. Then she entered the house.  
“Yo, yo.” Jack shouted.  
“Jack.” Bozer shouts. He goes over and hugs Jack.  
“Double 0 Boze.” Jack said and Bozer froze. Bozer was just staring at Jack and then said.  
“That is a sick ass nickname. Leanna, from now on my nickname is Double 0 Boze. Alright?”  
“Yeah…no. Hi Jack.” Leanna said and hugged Jack.  
“Guys, this is Riley.” Jack said turning towards Riley who was standing behind him with her hands behind her back.  
“Hi Riley. I’m Leanna. This is Bozer, my very annoying boyfriend.” Leanna said and Riley smiled.  
“Really, really rude Leanna. Hi Riley, nice to meet you.” Bozer said.  
“What you guys doing?” Jack asked.  
“We were talking about past mission…” Bozer stopped when Jack waived his hand to stop. He shakes his head a bit for Riley to not notice and Bozer figured out what he was referring to. “We were talking about our last vacation we went on. Which sucked. Everyday was raining. By the way, Mac isn’t here yet.”  
“Yeah, he said to me he’ll arrive after us.” Jack said and then he heard the front door open. He turned around and saw Mac walking inside and taking his shoes off.  
“Hey guys, sorry I’m la…” he trailed off when he saw Riley. ‘What…what the…’ Jack saw Mac’s face and immediately knew he was right. Mac was the one who confronted the man who was being a jerk to Riley. When Riley saw Mac she froze. Both of them didn’t know what to do, what to say and it was kind of awkward.  
“Mac, you okay buddy?” Bozer asked. Mac turned his head to face Bozer.  
“Um…yeah.” He said and he turned towards Riley. “Hey.” He said with a smile.  
“Hey.” Riley replied with a shy smile and rubbing her upper arm.  
“You two know each other?” Leanna asked.  
“Uh…” before Mac could answer he was interrupted by Jack.  
“They met in the store where Riley used to work.” Jack said. Mac glanced at Jack with furrowed eyebrows. Jack almost laughed when he saw Mac’s face.  
“How do you kn…” Mac was interrupted by Riley.  
“I told him.” Riley said while looking at the floor.  
“By the way, I’m Angus MacGyver. But call me Mac.” Riley snorted a bit when he heard his name. But Mac wasn’t surprised. Everyone did that when he introduced himself.  
“Riley Davis.” There was silence while Mac and Riley were looking at each other. Riley knows that Mac is nothing like those customers. He was the complete opposite. She was so relieved that time when he came to stop the nonsense that skinny ass was saying.  
“Right. Who’s hungry? I’m ordering Italian.” Bozer said.  
30 minutes later 

They moved the table on the balcony so they can eat outside with a sight of LA. They were all listening to Bozer talking ever since the food arrived.  
“I warned you.” Jack whispers to Riley referring to Bozer that he can’t shut up. Riley chuckles.  
Mac on the other hand wasn’t listening to anything what Bozer is saying. He was looking at his food and was eating really really slow. He wasn’t hungry at all. From time to time he was glancing at Riley. That reminded him off those bastards from the store. He saw that a Leanna’s, Bozer’s and Jack’s plates were empty. Only he and Riley still had food on their plate.  
“Mac, you gonna eat that?” Leanna asked.  
“Uh, no.” Mac said and pushed the plate towards Leanna. Mac stood up and picked up the empty plates. He made his way to the kitchen and putted the plates in the sink. ‘A lot of washing to do tonight’ he said to himself. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Riley approach him. When they made eye contact he smiled.  
“I’m just coming to get a glass of water.” she said. Mac didn’t hesitate. He went and grabbed a glass and poured water in it. Riley chuckled when she saw how fast he was. He handed the glass to Riley. “Thanks.” Riley said with a grin. She took a few sips and asked him “So, what do you do for a living?”  
“I…uh…” he was so nervous in front of Riley. ‘Get it together!’ “I work in a think tank.”  
“A think tank. Wow.” Riley said with raised eyebrows.  
“What about you?” Mac asked. And as soon as he saw Riley’s face when he asked the question, he knew he made a huge mistake. He just reminded her of those jerks, and who knows how many others Mac has missed. “Sorry.”  
“No, it’s…it’s fine. I am a technology genius. I know how to fix laptops, computers, phones etc. And I also know how to hack…stuff.” Riley said with a quiet voice. Mac chuckled a bit. “What exactly do you do?” Riley asked.  
“You know how you hack computers? Well, I hack everything else.” Mac said with a smile. Riley grins. And then she just stares at his eyes. ‘Wow, his eyes are beautiful’ she thought. She loved blue eyes. And she never seen bluer eyes than Mac’s. “Do I have something on me?” he said. He picked up his phone to see himself.  
“No, it’s just…your eyes. I’ve never seen bluer eyes than yours.” Riley said with a soft voice blushing a bit. Mac was glancing at her not even thinking about looking away. That’s when Jack came.  
“Where are the beers Mac?” Jack asked. Mac turned to look at him. Jack knows he interrupted something. Mac smiled at Riley once more before he went to the car because he forgot the beers in the trunk. Since the hill he chose to go to was far from his house he jumped in the car and went. And on his way back he stopped at the store to get beers only to forget them in his car. Smart guy. “I see you two are getting along.” Jack says to Riley. Riley smiled.

The next day 

Alright, first a deadly virus, then a cyber terrorist, then an international arms dealer, and now stuck in a burning aid clinic. This job sucks sometimes. It was just me and Mac, suffocating while looking for the stairs so we can get the hell out of here. Luckily Nikki was guiding us where to go. But if we don’t make it, it’s always nice to think about the things on your bucket list.  
“Fist fight with Vladimir Putin in space, read the rest of the Harry Potter books, sing with Willie Nelson…” he couldn’t finish because he was interrupted by Mac.  
“Jack, what the hell are you talking about?!” Mac shouted.  
“It’s my bucket list, Mac. You know what’s not on that list? Hanging out in a burning aid clinic that you set on fire!”  
“Okay, I’ll admit, not my best plan. But, it did get the Somali warlords off out tail.”  
“That doesn’t make me feel any better!”  
“Fighting with Vladimir Putin in space, Jack? How would that even happen?” Nikki said over the comms. She was at DXS.  
“Nikki, life is full of surprises. You never know what might happen.” Jack said.  
“How’s out exit strategy coming?” Mac asked while coughing. They could barely breathe. But this is not their first time stuck in a burning building.  
“I hacked a Somali government database and downloaded the blueprints. There is a stairwell on your right in 300 feet.” Nikki said. Matty walks in the war room.  
“Did Matty get the coordinates we sent?” Mac asked.  
“I did. And now we are targeting a drone strike. General Dalmar’s chemical weapons factory should be history in three, two, one…” Matty says and on the screen they see a building exploding. “Mission accomplished. Come back home, boys.” Mac sees the stairs and runs towards them…only to find three oxygen tanks that are about to explode.  
“No, no, no, no!! Back!!” Mac yells and pushes Jack back. They don’t get far enough, so the explosion throws them to the ground. Rocks hit their bodies and that is gonna leave some bruises.  
“What was that? Mac? Mac!” Nikki shouts and then he hears Mac and Jack groan.  
“Nikki, was that the only staircase?” Mac asked.  
“Yes, why? What’s wrong with it?” Nikki asked.  
“It’d probably be quicker to tell you what’s not wrong with it.” Jack says.  
“Okay, there is a window about 50 feet down the hall on your left.” Nikki says. They both take off. They can’t breathe anymore.  
“But? Come on, we know there is a “but”.” Jack says.  
“There is one catch.” Nikki says. They arrive at the window. And they can see the “catch”.  
“That’s a pretty big catch.” Mac says. They were up 3 floors so jumping out means breaking your legs. The fear of heights were kicking in. Mac’s feet felt weak so he backed off. Mac was looking around and found 2 fire extinguishers. He takes them and brings them to the window.  
“Well, unless you can find 50 more of those, we still got a major problem here.” Jack says.  
“Relax, the only thing on my bucket list right now is getting out of this building alive.” Mac says as he finds two body bags. He brings them over to the window. “Take care of that window for me, please.” Jack picks up a chair and throws it in the window shattering it. Mac cuts the hose of the fire extinguisher and puts the hose in the body bag. He tapes it so there are no openings. He and Jack put on the body bag on their backs. They line up on the edge of the windows with their backs facing the outside.  
“Any last words?” Jack asks. Mac just shakes his head and points backwards telling him to jump. They both jump yelling their lungs out. Midway Mac says “Now!” meaning to press the fire extinguisher. They both do that and the body bag was filling with foam. When they hit the ground the foam helped with the impact force. But they still felt pain in their backs. And that knocked the air out of them. After trying to catch their breaths Jack spoke.  
“Hey, Mac.”  
“Yeah?”  
“I think I can scratch pooping in my pants of my bucket list.” Mac couldn’t stop laughing and Jack hugged the fire extinguisher.

Diane’s apartment

Jack comes back from Somalia. Exhausted, a little pain on his back from the rocks that fell on him from the explosion which left a big bruise. He only found Diane home watching TV. Jack makes a whistle noise for Diane to realize that he’s home.  
“Hey.” Diane said with a smile. She stood up and went to give him a kiss.  
“Where’s Riley?” Jack asked.  
“Someone named Leanna asked her if she wants to hang out and she accepted.” Diane said. Jack had the biggest smile on his face. He probably made the best decision of his life for Riley to meet the others.  
“When did she leave?” Jack asked as he put down his backpack.  
“Half an hour ago.” Diane replied. Jack approached her and putted his hands on her waist.  
“So it’s just you here, huh?” Jack asked with a smile. Diane wrapped her arms around his neck.  
“Mm, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Diane asked. Jack leaned towards her and their lips make contact. Jack lifts her up and Diane wraps her legs around his waist. He walks towards the bedroom and puts her on the bed. She takes off his shirt and starts kissing him again. It took a while for Diane to realize something purple on his back.  
“Jack, what Is that?”  
“What?”  
“On your…back.” She stood up slightly to get a better look only to see a big bruise. “Oh my god, what happened?”  
Jack sighs. “Work. I can’t tell you what happened because it’s secret.” Jack said. Diane rubbed her thumb on the bruise with the softest touch, scared that it would hurt if she’s not careful.  
“We need to put some ice on it.” Diane started getting up but Jack didn’t let her.  
“After this, I want to finish what we started first.” Jack said. Diane smiled and they started kissing.

The next day

Mac didn’t get much sleep. He was having all these thoughts in his head. About the missions, about Nikki and about Riley. He smiles when Riley comes to his mind. After he heard she quit the job, he thought he’d never see her again. And it turns out she is the daughter of Jack’s girlfriend. He told her that she can come anytime if she wants to hang out. And he really likes being with her. She can teach him something about technology. Right now, Mac was fixing his oven. It stopped working while he was making scrambled eggs and bacon. That’s the one thing he knows how to make, and pancakes. He heard his phone buzz. He picked it up and saw a text from Matty that there is a new mission. ‘We just got back from one’. He texted Jack to see where he is. He says he is visiting his dad. Jack has told Mac that sometimes after some missions he goes and visits his dad at the cemetery. Mac got up and drove to the cemetery.  
“You should have seen it, Pop. The whole building is on fire, and we jump out, ass-backwards, with these air bag things. We were…we were fearless. Okay, I’m not gonna lie to you, the kid was fearless, I was scared as hell, but…I ain’t gonna let him know it.” Jack says and he laughs. Then he hears a “Hey.” From his right side that startled him. He turns around to see Mac.  
“Hey.” Jack says as Mac sits down next to him.  
“How’s your dad?” Jack glances at Mac before he answers.  
“Well, why don’t you ask him yourself, he’s listening.” Jack says. Mac glances at the tombstone.  
“Hi, Mr. Dalton. How’s…life?”  
“Sorry Pop, he didn’t mean to be rude, he’s just weird. He’s a genius when it comes to physics, but when it comes to metaphysics, he’s a little slow.”  
“Everytime we nearly get killed, you come here to talk to your dead dad, and I’m the weird one?”  
“Hey, it’s little rituals like this that give life meaning. Besides, there are not a lot of people out there that you can talk about classified missions, and my old man can keep a secret. Can’t you Pop?”  
“Well, ready to go and get almost killed again?” Mac asks as he slaps Jack’s knee. He stands up and focuses on the tombstone. “Emphasis on almost. I’ll bring him back in one peace.” Mac says. Jack stands up, kisses his fist and puts it on top of the tombstone.  
“I love you, Pop. I’ll see you soon.” Jack says. They started walking towards the car and Jack broke the silence. “So, you been talking to your dad lately?” Jack asks.  
Mac sighs. “Eh, it’s been a while.” Mac says. Jack didn’t say anything. Mac turns around and sees Jack raising his eyebrows at him. “Okay, it’s been a long while.”  
“Yeah, that’s long enough. I mean, after what he did, you’re gonna want to fix that, trust me.” Jack says.  
“I will…someday.”  
“That’s what I used to say till I almost ran out of somedays. Just…give the man a call before it’s too late.”  
“Jack, the guy left me. It’s…It’s not just that easy.”  
“Well, it ain’t that hard, neither. Listen” Jack says as he got in front of Mac. “If I could have one more day, to talk to my dad instead of that piece of rock, I’d to anything. Anything. I know this thing with your dad’s different, I’m not saying you should forget, but maybe it’s time you…you forgive just a little bit. You know?” Jack says. Mac was just looking at him, didn’t know what to say. Then Jack turned around and started walking towards the car. 

Department of External Services (DXS)

Mac and Jack walk in the war room to see Matty looking at the big screen and Nikki sitting in a chair with her laptop in her lap.  
“Alright, we all here. Let’s get to work. Over the past two years, five federal buildings in the US have been attacked, killing 28 people and wounding hundreds more.” Matty says as 5 pictures from blown up buildings come up on the screen. Mac picks up two paperclips from the bowl full of paperclips. “Explosive analysis from the most recent attack links these incidents to a group called Division 77.”  
“I heard of them before. They are like mercenaries or something, right?” Jack asks.  
“Terrorists for hire. Ex insurgents and extrimists who traded in their politics for cold hard cash.” Mac says.  
“A+ blondie. They’re highly trained and very careful. Every member hidden by multiple false identities. Every expenses paid for by shell corporations.” Matty added.  
“So how do we find these guys?” Mac asked while fiddling with his paperclips.  
“We don’t. Not directly. By digging into their shell corps, the FBI followed D-77’s money, and It all leads to this guy.” Matty says as a picture appears on the screen. “Hedge fund golden boy, Ralph Kastrati.”  
“Oh, that is a punchface.” Jack says.  
“Excuse me?” Matty asks while looking at Ralph.  
“Oh, you heard me. Some dudes, they just have this face that really needs to be punched.”  
Mac sighs. “So we don’t know how to find them, but we do know where Ralph is, right?” Mac asks.  
“He fled the US in 2015 to avoid trial for 561 counts of securities fraud.” Jack smiles and glances at Mac. ‘Oh, I’m punching this guy.’ Matty continues “But he’s just been located hiding out in a tropical tax haven of Labuan, Malaysia, making millions managing D-77’s money. If we can combine the FBI intel with everything Ralph knows about their financials…” Matty was interrupted by Jack.  
“We may be able to track them down before their next attack, okay.”  
“Well, shouldn’t we just let the Malaysian cops pick him up?” Nikki asks.  
“We believe that D-77 has informants within the Malaysian government. If D-77 hides Ralph before we can get to him, we’re gonna lose our only chance to stop them. So we can’t go the official route.” Matty says.  
Mac drops the paperclip figure on the table. It looks like a Celtic knot. “Which leaves the unofficial route. Us.” He says.  
“Yeah. Yeah, okay, I want a piece of that.” Jack says.  
“Wheels up in 20.” Matty says and they all walk out.

Labuan, Malaysia

They arrive at Ralph’s house. For a wanted man, he is living the life. He has big ass house, pool and a lot of other stuff. Mac, Jack and Nikki are parked in a van a bit away from the house, but enough for Nikki to do her magic so they can listen to what he is saying. They also have a camera on the van, so they zoomed in only to see a half naked Ralph talking on the phone.  
“I’m telling you, you gotta come join m, brah. Hitting the hottest clubs, the finest honeys, making more cheedar than any of you hedge fund chumps back home.” Ralph says to the guy on the other side of the phone. Nikki can’t believe what she is seeing or hearing. Shaking her head with her mouth slightly open, she sees Mac and Jack doing the same. “Trust me, Uncle Sam don’t have a clue, where I am.” Ralph says.  
“I mean, unless being parked outside your house watching you on thermal and visible and tracking your GPS counts as having a clue.” Nikki says.  
“Guy’s place looks like a Kardashian exploded. Straight cheese.” Jack says as he looks with his binoculars and Ralph who is adjusting a picture of him and Putin. “Oh…Oh I want to punch this guy in the face so bad.”  
“Well, I want that for you too, buddy, but the trick’s to do it without tipping of the local police, which could tip off D-77.” Mac says.  
“Here. Take a look.” Jack says. Mac goes to the front of the van and takes the binoculars to look at Ralph front door.  
“Huh. Ralph may be too arrogant to pay for bodyguards, but his security system is a state-of-the-art.” Mac says as he sees a keypad on the wall.  
“It’s on a wireless network, but with this kind of encryption it could take days to break in.” Nikki says.  
“Which is time we don’t have.” Jack says as he opens a soda can.  
“Maybe we don’t have to break in…if Ralph gives us the code.” Mac says as he takes the soda can from Jack’s hands without asking and he heads in the back of the van. Mac cuts the can’s top and bottom. He takes out a handful of Wi-Fi chips and places them in the soda can. He points the soda can towards Ralph’s house and the alarm goes off. Ralph goes to the keypad and types in the code and Mac types the numbers on his hand. 5673. “So, we have the code. Now we just need to wait for him to go to sleep.”  
Then they hear Ralph say “I’m brushing my teeth with caviar and foie gras.” Jack can’t take this guy anymore.  
“Hey, do I have to seriously listen to this asshat for the rest of the day?” Jack snaps.  
“Actually, Ralph times his sleep to the American markets. You have to listen to this asshat all night.” Nikki says. Jack groans and makes a fist ready to hit something. Nikki puts on her headphones. “Noise canceling. You two have fun.”  
“I need to make me some of those.” Mac says as he turns around and opens a box.  
“I’m gonna knock the curls of this kid, I’m telling you.” Jack says.

20 minutes later 

Nikki was taking a nap, while Mac was just sitting there and staring at the cameras. Ralph was playing video games. Jack was texting with Diane, and it reminded him.  
“Hey, Mac. Come here.” Jack said with a whisper so he would not wake up Nikki. Mac stood up and made his way towards Jack. “You know, I never really thanked you for doing what you did in the store for Riley. She uh…she’s been having a hard time since I met her. Kids didn’t like her…” he trails off and looks down, “her dad was an alcoholic, coming home everyday just to hit her and Diane, that’s until I broke his nose. So I decided I should introduce you guys to her. And you guys made her smile more times that I ever seen her. So thank you, man.”  
“I know what it’s like for her. I really do. And when I saw that in the store, my blood boiled. What I saw in that store…that…that was my whole childhood.” He took some time before speaking up again.” Riley is family. And none of us are gonna allow anyone to talk to her like that bastard. I can promise you that.” Mac says as he puts a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “And bring her more often when you come to my house.” He says with a smile.  
“Mm, I see you two are getting alone pretty well.” Jack says glancing at him smiling. Mac grins and then goes back to his seat to watch the cameras. 

The next day

After spending the whole night in the van…well, okay, they didn’t spend the whole night in the van. Jack went to buy some food and drinks, Mac took a walk around the neighborhood every 2 hours, but being close to the house in case something happens, and Nikki…she was just sitting in the van the whole night. Finally Ralph went to sleep. Jack and Mac got out of the van and walked towards the entrance. They made it to the front door.  
“I need your glasses.” Mac says. Jack made an angry face before giving Mac his glasses. Mac takes off one of the earpieces. ‘I should’ve expected that’. Mac uses a paperclip and one of the earpieces to pick the lock on the door. The door opens and Mac went straight to the keypad to type in the code.  
They split up. Mac went to an office where he finds a laptop. He takes the laptop…which is golden…and a couple of files too. Jack goes and enters Ralph’s bedroom to find him sleeping on his side and snoring and has a golden sleep mask on. When Jack went next to him, Ralph started moving, and rises up. He takes of the mask and sees Jack next to him. He jumps from the bed and starts running. Jack doesn’t run after him, just shakes his head. Ralph runs into the living room and spots his “katanas” under the glass. He tries to break the glass with a punch, only to hurt his hand.  
“Ahh!! Son of a…” he was interrupted by a right hook from Mac. Mac shakes his hand and sees a very angry Jack. Mac shrugs because he knows why Jack is angry. “What the hell, man?” Ralph shouts. He barely stands up holding his left cheek. “Who the hell are you guys?”  
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are coming with us. Go get dressed up.” Mac says.  
“Hold on. You want money? How much? I can give you double, no, triple from what the guy is paying you to kidnap me.”  
“Just shut up and go get dressed.” Mac snaps.  
“Okay, let me at least take a pill cause you given a headache.”  
“I’m gonna give you a bigger headache if you don’t shut up.” Jack snaps.  
“Okay, okay.” Ralph says as he walks in his bedroom. Jack then glances at Mac with an angry face.  
“Look, I had to do it, you know?” Mac says.  
“We have clearly defined roles here, Mac, okay? Nikki does all the computer stuff, you do your thing and I do the punching, alright?” Jack says. “You don’t see me going around making bombs out of paperclips and chewing gum, do you? No. It frustrates me, man.” Jack says and Mac was nodding the whole time while Jack was talking. Jack notices something from the corner of his eye. He turns to see Ralph just staring at them all dressed up. “What?” he asks him.  
“How much is the government paying you, guys?” Ralph asks. Mac just closes his eyes and exhales to calm down. “I’ll triple it, and throw in a rare Wu-Tang album for free.”  
“Look, all we need from you is intel on the D-77 terrorists and their next attack.” Mac said with a calm voice which he was struggling to have.  
“Attack? I don’t know anything. I’m just their money man.” Ralph says.  
“Yeah, I’m punching him anyway.” Jack says. He glances at Ralph. “It’s coming, fool.” Jack says raising his fist. “Now, let’s get out of here.”  
They walk outside heading for the van. “You are gonna tell us how to find D-77, right now.” Mac says and Ralph stops.  
“Bro, I told you, I’m just their money man. I know account numbers, balances, not where they are or what they’re planning. But, hey, you guys like boats?” he said smiling. “I can get you two, brand new, murdered out…” he stopped cause he felt a sharp pain on the left side of his chest.  
“Sniper!” Jack shouts as they all duck down and hide behind planters that are in front of the house. Mac looks over to Ralph to see him gasping for breath with his hand on his chest. There is a lot of blood on his hand and his shirt. The sniper won’t stop shooting.  
“Please don’t let me die.” Ralph says.  
“Nikki, where is he? Can you see the shooter?” Mac asks. Nikki is searching with the binoculars and sees a man with a big ass gun.  
“Got him. He’s on the roof.” Nikki says.  
“Looks like D-77 was keeping an eye on their money man.” Jack says as he reloads his gun.  
“It’s gonna take months to sift through this stuff without Ralph to explain it.” Mac says as he lifts up his bag full of files and the laptop. “We get him and his intel to the FBI before these mercs take their money and run.”  
“Does a doctor factor into this plan at all? Because, if you haven’t notices I just got shot!” Ralph says. Mac and Jack exchange glances and Mac shakes his head.  
“We’re not gonna make it to you, Nikki, and Ralph isn’t gonna make it home without medical attention. Go find a doctor and meet us at exfil.” Mac says. They hear the van start and driving away.  
“What are you guys gonna do, walk?” Nikki asks. Jack sees Ralph’s car parked in front of them.  
“No, we’re gonna take his whip. Let’s go.” Jack says.  
“My car’s mint, yo! Diddy’s got one just like it!” Ralph says as they start running while ducking so they won’t catch a bullet.  
“Is that really what you are worried about, right now?!” Mac shouts. They stop at the last planter. Jack waits for a moment and runs toward the car. He smashes the window with his elbow.  
“Dude!” Ralph shouts as he shows the car keys to Jack. Jack just shrugs and opens the back door so Mac and Ralph can go straight in. He runs toward the driver seat. As Mac and Ralph get in, Jack rams the throttle and they are off. 

On the road

Mac is checking Ralph’s gunshot wound. “The bullet hit your lung and missed your heart. Looks like you got lucky.”  
“You call this lucky, bro? You have any idea how hard it is to get bloodstains out of calfskin?” Ralph says.  
“Hey, unless you start telling us everything you know about D-77, your luck’s about to get a lot worse, I can tell you that.” Jack says.  
“I’m a glorified accountant bro. What do you want me to tell you, that I put them in large blend index funds so they can ensure steady growth?” Ralph says. Jack exhales to calm his nerves down before he can make trouble.  
“Jack, he’s got a sucking chest wound. I got to find a way to seal it.” Mac says.  
“Where’s your duct tape when you need it, right?” Jack says looking at the rear view mirror to look at Mac.  
“Hey, eyes on the road, Jethro. This car’s worth more than your house.” Ralph says. ‘Just calm down. Calm down. Ignore him’ Jack said to himself. But he doesn’t calm down.  
“Oh, as soon as you’re done saving his life, I’m gonna kill him. You hear that smartass? I’m already dressed for a funeral.” Jack says.  
Then Mac’s phone starts ringing. He answers and hears Matty. “Guys, satellite picked up gunfire near Ralph’s house. Is everything okay?” Matty asks.  
“Um…yeah. Every…Everything’s fine.” Mac says.  
“There is blood everywhere.” Ralph says looking at his shirt and hand. And of couse Matty hears that.  
“That doesn’t sound fine. How’s the package?”  
“Ralph…he’s-he’s good. He…he kinda-kinda got shot.” Mac says  
“He what?”  
“Yeah, no…no biggie. Just in the shoulder.” Jack says.  
“Yeah but…the part of his shoulder that’s kind of his chest.” Mac says.  
Matty sighs. “Listen, D-77 knows you have Ralph. We need to assume that they’re moving up their timetable rather than passing up a payday. Now we have even less time to stop them, and we don’t know where the attack is gonna be.” Matty says.  
Ralph gasps. “I don’t feel so good, bro.”  
“Here, take this.” Mac says as he hands over the phone to Jack.  
“Yeah, uh, hey, hey, hey, Matty, It’s Jack. Listen we’re gonna have to call you back, okay?” Jack doesn’t even wait for Matty to answer and hangs up. Mac finds a couple of bottles of hand sanitizer.  
“Jack, give me your wallet.” Jack does that and Mac takes out the driver’s licence. He pours a bit of hand saniziter on the wound, places the driver’s license and with a small adhesive tape he had in his pocket and tapes the driver’s license on the wound. Ralph opens his eyes and he can breathe now.  
“Are you a doctor?” Ralph asks  
“Not even a little.” He says smiling and exchanging glances with Jack.  
“Oh, god I’m gonna die.” Ralph says.

Labuan Estate Country Club 

“Hey, Mac, our patient still alive?” Nikki asks over the phone.  
“And kicking.” Mac says as he hands over the sunglasses he broke to Jack. He fixed them cause they were Jack’s favorite pair. Jack is changing radio stations and stops when he finds some good country music.  
“Hell yeah.” He says with a grin on his face. But that grin doesn’t last too long.  
“Yo, turn off that country music, bro. It’s an affront for everything this car stands for.” Ralph says and Jack raises his eyebrows.  
“Oh, is that right? Well, unless you figure out how to connect to D-77’s spendings to the location on their next attack, it’s country music all the way, Curly Q. I ain’t even turned it up yet.” Jack says glancing at Ralph from the rear view mirror.  
“I told you, they draw lump sums to a Cayman account. I don’t know where it goes from there, alright?” Ralph says.  
“Any luck finding a doctor, Nikki?” Mac asks.  
“Tracked down the best one on the island. Which it wasn’t eyes since it was his day off.” Nikki says walking in front of a guy who was about to take a swing at the golf ball. “Got a lock on his cell signal.”  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, no. “Best on the island” doesn’t mean much. How many Yelp stars does he have?” Ralph asks.  
“Hey, you’re gonna be seeing Yelp stars if you don’t shut up.” Jack says.  
“You shut up.” Ralph replied. Jack was about to say something but Mac started speaking.  
“Alright, I’m sending you a video of Ralph’s wounds so the doctor can take a look.” Mac says. Nikki’s phone beeps and sees a lot of blood.  
“Oh, that’s nasty.” Nikki says. Then her phone started beeping and Nikki sees a dot flashing on the screen. “Hey, Mac. I think I got him.” She looks around and sees the doctor taking a shot at the hole. She runs towards him. “Dr. Megat?” The doctor turns around and faces her. “Hi. My name is Nikki. Uh…I know this is gonna sound weird, but…” she didn’t finished because she was interrupted by the doctor who was speaking in Malaysian. ‘Well, crap’ “Guys, we got a problem.”  
“Yeah, so do we.” Jack says looking at the rear view mirror to see a car approaching them with high speed. “The sniper is on our tail. Hang on.” Jack slams the throttle. Then they hear a gunshot and they all duck.  
“Faster would be good.” Mac says.  
“I’m flooring it. This car sucks.” Jack says  
“Hey, this car’s worth your life…” Ralph was interrupted by Mac and Jack.  
“We know!” they say simultaneously.  
Then the rear window shatters as a bullet flies threw it. Thankfully hitting no one.  
“I don’t want to die listening to country music!” Ralph shouts. Jack turns and goes to the wrong lane on the word. He avoids every car. Because…well who wants to crash right? Anyway, Mac takes the headrest out of his seat. He takes out his knife and starts cutting the leather. He finds a lot of papers and stuffs them in the hole of the headrest.  
“Are you making a bomb? Mm? Because if you’re making a bomb, that would be awesome.” Jack says. Mac takes out his lighter and lights a piece of paper that’s in the headrest.  
“Wait…shouldn’t you be throwing the bomb? Why aren’t you throwing it?” Jack asks.  
“Because, it’s not a bomb, Jack.” Mac says. “The headrest is made of flame resistant foam, so it’ll never burn, but It’ll smoke like crazy.”  
“Great.” Jack says sarcastically. The whole car fills up with smoke and they start coughing. “Hey, maybe we should, uh, talk about some short term goals, because now I think you’re just making it easier for him to tail us.” Jack says. Mac opens the window and he leans out with the smoking headrest. Jack grabs Mac by his belt just in case. The guy behind him is struggling to see so Mac throws the smoking headrest in the back of a pickup truck. Jack turns right and the truck goes straight. The guy that was chasing them must have followed the smoke because there was nobody behind them. Jack stops the car.  
“Smoked ‘em.” He says smiling.  
“Don’t.” Mac says.  
“Don’t what?”  
“I hate your puns.”  
“Well, that’s your problem, not mine.”  
Mac phones starts ringing. He picks up to hear Nikki with a panicked voice. “Mac, I’m here with the doctor. You gotta hear this.”  
The doctor starts speaking in Malaysian but Nikki’s laptop is listening and translating. “If you don’t act out a bicoascal breast pluming procedure, the sick person will become not alive.” Mac and Jack can hear Ralph coughing in the back. “Now.” Says the doctor.  
“Okay, doc said that Ralph needs surgery now.” Nikki said. The coughing gets worse and then Ralph starts gasping. Mac and Jack turn around and sees Ralph’s wide eyes.  
“Oh, god. Something’s wrong. Like, really wrong.” Ralph says.  
“Okay, tell us where to meet so the doctor can…” Mac is interrupted by Nikki.  
“No, like, now, now, now! Doc said he’s surprised Ralph hasn’t crashed already.” Nikki says. Mac shakes his head. ‘Please, don’t say it.’ “He’s gonna be dead in 4 minutes if you don’t do the surgery now.” ‘Oh, you said it.’ Jack glances at Mac. None of them knew anything about this kind of stuff. Mac runs a hand through his hair. ‘Is this really happening?’  
They arrive at a building and drive into the parking garage. Jack opens the door to see Ralph with his eyes closed.  
“Yo, Ralph.” Jack slaps him softly on his cheek. He moves his head. At least he is still alive. But his face is pale. “He’s not looking so good, Mac.” Jack says.  
“Get him in the back.” Mac says.  
Mac wasn’t great in biology. He had a C and nothing higher than that. But he was Ralph’s only shot. Mac takes a couple of bottles of hand sanitizer. He starts smearing hand sanitizer all over the back of the SUV and spreads it with the stuffing he got from the seats. Jack carries Ralph to the back of the SUV but stops.  
“Hey, wait a minute. You hear that?” Jack asks.  
“What?”  
“He finally stopped talking. Let’s uh…let’s just enjoy that for a second.” A second passes and Jack lays Ralph down and Mac picks up the phone.  
“Well, we’re ready as ready as we’ll ever be. What do we need to do?” Mac asks. The doctor starts speaking in Malaysian but the computer starts translating. “Don’t worry. I will walk you through the procedure, feet by feet.”  
“Which means step by step.” Nikki says.  
“Okay, but that doesn’t help us with the “don’t worry” part.” Mac sounds so nervous. Possibly the most nervous Jack has ever seen him.  
“Okay, Doc said that Ralph has something called hemothorax, which is a buildup of blood in the chest that makes it impossible to breath. If you don’t drain the fluid, he’ll basically drown on dry land. So, all you have to do is preform an intercostal chest drain procedure.” Nikki says.  
Jack raises his eyebrows when he hears what Nikki just said. “In the back of an SUV with no surgical equipment.”  
Mac sighs. “What could go wrong.” He says. He takes the hand sanitizer and pours some in his hand and a bit on his knife so he can make it a bit slimy.  
“Okay, so step one is to a small incision between his fourth and fifth rib.” Nikki says.  
Mac does that and they both wince from the sight and from the sound. “Step two is a little more complicated. You just need to find a way to spread his ribs apart.” Nikki says.  
“Oh my god. How did we end up here?” Jack says with a quiet voice. Mac looks around and finds a tire jack and a seat spring. He pours some hand sanitizer on the seat spring. He bends the spring and attaches it to the tire jack. The ribs start cracking and Mac just wants to puke.  
“Oh. Can’t unsee that.” Jack says as he looks away wincing. Mac finished spreading the ribs and the translator begins speaking.  
“And now the liquid away, you must suck.” Mac glances at Jack.  
“Don’t look at me, man. I’ll suck out snake venom, well, depending on where it is, but I ain’t going anywhere near that.” He says pointing at Ralph’s body. Mac has an idea. He unscrews the little cap from the tire that holds all the air in it and bends it with his knife. He takes a long tube that’s connected to the windshield. He goes back to Ralph.  
“Go hit the windshield wipers for me.” Mac tells Jack.  
“I can do that.” Jack says.  
“Now.” Jack turns on the wipers and then he sees blood all over the windshield. It’s like a horror movie.  
“I think I want to throw up.” Jack says. Mac hears coughing and he sees Ralph slowly opening his eyes.  
“Is that my blood?” Ralph asks. Mac and Jack both chuckle.  
“Good job, Nikki.” Mac says. Nikki gives the doc a high five. 

“Okay, Doc and I are two minutes out. Ralph ready to go?” Nikki asks.  
“Close enough. We’re on our way now.” Mac says as he’s done sealing the wound. Jack takes Ralph’s right arm so he could help him. But…  
“Your hands are like sandpaper, bro. Ever try moisturizer? Get some.” Ralph says and Jack let’s go of his hand.  
“Alright, you carry him.” Jack says. Mac puts Ralph’s left arm around his shoulders and starts walking toward the exit.  
“Hey, yo, yo, yo, what about my baby? We can’t just leave her here unlocked.” Ralph said looking at the white SUV.  
“I’m trying to imagine how your resale value could go down anymore.” Mac says.  
“Let me guess, you’re gonna be late for exfil.” Matty says over the radio. She joined them after the surgery.  
“Yeah, but we got a killer excuse.” Mac says  
“I doubt your black ops exfil operating illegally on foreign soil will want to hear it. But, let me see what I can do.” Matty says. “How late will you be?”  
“30 minutes, tops.” Mac says as a car pulls over in front of them. Two guys come out with guns in their hands. “Make that 35 minutes. Elevator!” Mac shouts. Jack takes out his gun and starts shooting covering Mac and Ralph. As they run towards the elevator another car pulls up and a guy with a gun comes out. ‘Oh, come on. This isn’t fair’. Mac presses the button and the elevator doors open. They all get inside. Mac presses the button but nothing happens. He keeps pressing but the doors aren’t closing.  
“Unless you want to patch up a lot more bullet holes, you better come up with a new plan.” Jack says as he starts shooting. “I’m telling you these guys ain’t gonna stop till this little piggy is dead.”  
“Then we’re just going to have to kill him.” Mac says.  
“What?!” Ralph shouts as the elevator doors finally close. All of them survived.

The elevator stopped 8 floors up from the parking garage. “Well, we’re eight floors away from the mercs trying to kill us, and it looks like we’re in some sort of tax haven law firm. So we should be able to find everything we need.” Mac says.  
“Hold up.” Ralph says. Mac and Jack turn to face him. “Maybe this is blood loss talking, but I could swear I just heard you that you are planning to kill me.”  
“Right now, I just need you to focus on D-77.” Mac says with an angry voice. “Is there anything in their financials that can tell us something about their next attack?”  
“Hey. How are we supposed to get Sir Bleedsalot past her?” Jack asks pointing at a woman gathering some papers. “Want me to turn on the charm?”  
“We don’t have time for the charm.”  
“I’ll do the English accent. Chicks dig that.”  
“You have a horrible English accent.” Mac says and then he hears a familiar voice.  
“Alright, so here is the deal. I just hacked your servers.” Nikki says as she turns the laptop so the woman can see the screen. “This is proof of all the money your company illegally hides for high-ranking government officials around the world. So unless you want this on the first page of every news site, you are gonna go and get your boss and tell her to bring her checkbook.” Nikki says. The woman nods and storms off to get her boss.  
“Let’s go.” Jack says as he goes over to help Ralph.  
“Nice work.” Mac says to Nikki with a smile.  
“Still gonna leak that stuff though.” Nikki says. “The doctor didn’t have any syringes in his golf bag.”  
“It’s fine. I’ll figure something out.” Mac says. He sees a coat on a chair. He takes it puts it on Ralph so they can cover the blood.  
“Hey. Yo, yo, yo. Wh-What about this whole “you killing me” thing, huh?” Ralph asks.  
“Well, Jack is right.” Mac says.  
“They ain’t gonna stop looking for you until you’re dead.” Jack says.  
“So you need to be dead. I need a ballpoint pen, eye drops and dental floss.” Mac says glancing at Jack and Nikki. They both nod and start searching.  
“Bro, why do you need a ballpoint pen?” Ralph says. Jack clears his throat and gives Ralph a death stare. ‘Why don’t you shut up for once’  
They bring Ralph into an office so Mac can “kill” him. Mac finds high blood pressure meds. He takes two pills and crushes them. He then puts them in a glass of water and stirs.  
“Yo, it’s hard to express the degree which I am not cool with this.” Ralph says. Jack looks out the window and sees the guy that was chasing them in the hallway searching the offices.  
“Live now, complain later. We got company Mac, let’s go.” Jack says as he clocks his gun.  
They got to the bottom level. There is a lot of people outside, so this should work perfectly.  
“Okay, do your thing, Mac. I got your six.” Jack says and he glances at Nikki. “We got your six. Sorry.”  
“Okay, so, you’re not a doctor, but you’re at least like a scientist, right?” Ralph asks.  
“Uh, not really.” Mac says.  
“What?” Ralph says with fear in his eyes.  
“Relax. We’re not actually going to kill you. The drugs in this needle are just going to drop your blood pressure enough so that…nobody can detect your pulse. Survive like that for an hour, then I’ll come in with another shot and reverse the process.” Mac says.  
“Okay. Let me get this straight. You shoot that in my arm, I die out there surrounded by randos, the D-77 guys see my dead body and they…bug out. Then, you sleep me the antidote and, hey, back from the dead, baby. Right?”  
“Almost.”  
“Almost?”  
“I’m not gonna shoot it in your arm.” Mac says. He takes off the bandages from the wound and starts injecting the needle. Ralph makes a little scream of pain. “Injecting it close to your heart lets me use a lower dose.”  
“Okay, so you’re not a doctor. You’re not a scientist. How the hell do you know all this stuff?” Ralph asks.  
“I read a lot of books.” Mac says and shrugs.  
“And, you’re ready with the antidote, right?” Ralph asks. Mac looks away. “Dude, what the hell, man?! You-you have the antidote, right?”  
“I-I mean I will. Trust me.” Mac says. “No, go die.”  
“Wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. Please. I know I’m annoying and I act like a scumbag, and then there’s the whole “I managed money for terrorists” thing, but don’t let me die, okay?” Ralph says. “Not yet. I can do better, I can be better. Grow the hell up. Maybe have kids. Oh, God, I got to call my mom. I got to call my mom, I can’t die without…” he trails off as Mac puts a hand on his shoulder. “I haven’t talk to my mom for years, you know?” ‘Yeah, I know how it feels’  
“Hey. It’s gonna be okay. I promise. See you on the other side.” Mac says as he pushes Ralph in the crowd. Ralph stops and turns around.  
“Those D-77 guys…sometimes they’d ask me to set up a shell corp in a specific city, which is weird, because who cares where a dummy shell corporation is based, right?” Ralph says. “Anyway, I don’t know if this helps or not, but last week they had me set up one in Miami, Sunset Atlantic Holdings, LLC.” Ralph says as he starts walking in the crowd.  
Miami Beach. Now they know where D-77’s next target is. Then they see Ralph fall down and not moving. People start shouting in Malaysian, gathering around Ralph’s body, taking out their phones to call an ambulance.  
Later…Mac, Jack and Nikki are in an ambulance as doctors. They see the doctors cover up Ralph’s body. “Looks like your little tricked worked well enough to fool the EMTs.” Jack says.  
“Here’s to hoping it didn’t work so well we can’t bring him back.” Mac says. ‘Yes, the kid worked for terrorists, and he is a complete jerk, but he didn’t deserve to die.’ They hear the back door of the ambulance open and see Nikki climbing in. He brought what Mac asked.  
“Ah. Exactly what I need to bring back the dead.” Mac says as he takes a needle and two little bottles of something. “Did the doctor gave you these?” Mac asks.  
“Oh, hell no. When I explained your plan he said some very rude things that roughly translate to: “Screw you guys. I’m going home.” Had to hack the security system in the pharmacy to get those.” Nikki says.  
“We sure about bringing him back? I kinda like him this way.” Jack says. Mac knew he was joking but still it made him a little bit angry. Before he could say anything his phones starts ringing. Matty.  
“Hey, Matty.” Mac answers.  
“Well, it cost me a case of bourbon and a pile of hazard pay, but your exfil team is still standing by. And Ralph is still the key to stopping their next attack. How’s he doing?” Matty asks.  
“Ralph? Uh, yeah, he-he’s fine. I mean, he’s dead, but, he’ll get better.” Mac says.  
“Wait, he’s what?” Matty asks with a slightly raised voice.  
“I dosed him with a bunch of beta blockers to fake his death and to get D-77 off our tail. As soon as the local EMTs put him in the back of the coroner’s van…” Mac is interrupted by Jack.  
“Which is my coroner’s van right now.” Jack says. Nikki rolls her eyes.  
“I’ll give him a heaping helping, of insulin and glucose, and, uh, It’ll counteract the drug. Ralphie gets to the car and we head to exfil. And we should have him any second.” Mac says. Nikki sees two guys. One of them from the building. They hand over money to the EMTs.  
“Whoa, guys. Looks like D-77’s got the cops and the M.E. on their payroll.” Nikki says. Mac and Jack see what she means.  
“Uh-oh.”  
“Uh-oh? Wh-What’s “Uh-oh”?” Matty asks.  
“No, no. He said…he said “go, go” like “we got to go, Matty”. Okay, good talk, bye.” Jack says as he hangs up. They see the D-77 guys lift up Ralph and put him in the trunk of their car.  
“Why are they taking the body?” Nikki asks.  
“Proof that he’s dead.” Jack replies.  
“And when they find out that he’s not, they’re gonna kill him.” Nikki says.  
They follow the car to some warehouse. The car stops and the D-77 guys open the trunk. “Mac, you got about 10 minutes left for you to give Ralph the shot.” Nikki says.  
“All the shots in the world won’t help, if his head’s missing. We need to move now.” Mac says as he undoes his seatbelt.  
“Whoa, whoa, we need a plan.” Nikki says.  
“It’s two dudes.” Jack says and Nikki glances outside. “Plan is simple. We go in there and kick their…” Jack is interrupted by Nikki.  
“Jack, looks like your two dudes just became an army.” Nikki says as 6 guys come out of the warehouse.  
“Okay, not so simple.” Jack says. Nikki sees a guy carrying something familiar.  
“Is that a hacksaw?” she asks. “Oh, boy”.  
“If you can handle two, that leaves about six. I can probably take them out. Actually I can leave two for you Nikki, if you want.” Jack says glancing at her.  
“Or, I can take them all out.” Mac says as he spots refrigerant tanks.  
“I like that idea.” Nikki says. Mac gets out of the car, Jack and Nikki follow them. Mac jumps in a trash container and grabs everything he needs to make two masks. He hands one to Jack.  
“You seriously want me to put this on my face?” Jack asks.  
“Only if you like breathing.” Mac replies. He pops the tank and throws it in the room with the D-77 guys and Ralph. There is gas everywhere. Everyone is coughing and gasping for air. Mac and Jack come in and they start having fun. Jack dodges a punch and throws a right fist into the guy’s face, while Mac takes a pan and smacks it across the other guy’s face.  
“Oh, that felt good didn’t it buddy?” Jack says as he goes over to the other guy and dodges a punch. “But I think my left,” Jack throws a right hook, “is getting jealous!” he says as he throws a left hook. “Woo!” he shouts and he takes a fist in his left cheek. Thankfully because of the mask he won’t have to go home with another bruise. A D-77 dude comes out of the warehouse gasping for breath. He felt a tap on his right shoulder. When he turns around he sees a blonde woman with a pipe in her hand. He didn’t have time to think cause Nikki knocked him out with the pipe. She checks her time. ‘Crap’.  
“Time’s up, Mac. If you haven’t given him the shot yet, it might be too late.” Nikki says.  
“Only one way to find out.” Mac says. He takes out the needle and injects Ralph. He inhales and takes of the mask. He puts it on Ralph’s head. Mac didn’t realize a guy was behind him, and when he turns he takes a hard fist in his stomach, knocking the air out of him. He needs to breath now, and that means breath in the refrigerant gas. Mac knocks out the guy and starts coughing and gasping. He lifts up Ralph and runs outside. He puts Ralph on the ground.  
“Mac, are you okay?” Nikki says. Mac just nods unable to speak. He just looks at Ralph praying for him to wake up. ‘If he dies, I killed him’. “Did it work?” Nikki asks. But she doesn’t see him moving or breathing. Jack comes out after having some fun.  
“Ralphie, hey, come on, man. You’re too big a pain in the ass to give up that easy.” Jack says. As Mac put his hands on Ralph chest to start CPR, that’s when Ralph started snoring. Mac sighs in relief.  
“Ralph!” Jack shouts. Ralph opens his eyes.  
“Who took my sleep mask?” Ralph asks. He is looking around him. “Oh, god. Why-Why am I laying on a dirty floor, huh? These pants are designer, yo. I’m covered in schmutz.” Ralph says.  
“You know, it’s weird. I’m glad he’s alive, but…I still want to kill him.” Jack says/  
“Yeah, love you too, Jethro.” Ralph says.

Department of External Services (DXS)

They all arrive home the next day. “Congrats guys. Our intel on that Miami shell corp led to the arrest of six D-77 mercenaries before they could carry out their attack.” Matty says.  
“And a full interrogation of Ralph should help take down D-77’s whole organization, right?” Mac asks.  
“Actually, it’s not an interrogation anymore. It’s a testimony. Ralph’s cooperating completely. And I’m working on having him placed in Witness Protection.” Matty says. Jack rolls his eyes when he sees Ralph dancing behind Matty with two men in suits following him.  
“I’m thinking Vegas, baby! Ooh, ooh, or Miami, you know, cause I saved the city and all. Those bikini models are gonna want to thank me personally.” Ralph says and then glances at Matty.  
“As we discussed, you’ll be getting a new identity. And you won’t be able to tell anybody who you really are or what you’ve done.” Matty Fsays.  
“Alright, Jane Bond, I feel ya. A fresh start, I could probably use on of those, right?” Ralph says.  
“Or a whole new personality.” Nikki says.  
“You joke, little hottie, but after bravely staring death in the face, I’ve decided to change the game. I want to use my powers for good, ya heard? Gonna invest my millions and making the world a better place for the little children…the future Ralphs.” Ralph says with a whisper. Jack grins.  
“Well, I hate to break it to ya, but you’re broke. Your millions are now in evidence, and you won’t be seeing any of it. So…” Jack says and shrugs. Ralph glances at Matty with a shocked face and she also shrugs.  
“That seems cruel and unusual.” Ralph says.  
“Nah, it’s not so bad. Starting with nothing, making it up as you go along…I do that all the time.” Mac says.  
“Coolio. I’m down. Might even be good for my health.” Ralph says as he spreads out his hand. “Come on. Give me some love.” He says with a quiet voice glancing at Matty. Matty walks away. Then Ralph glances at Jack and starts walking towards him.  
“Come on.” He says. Jack shakes his head.  
“Don’t.” Jack says but still Ralph hugs him. When he breaks the hug he starts walking towards the exit. “Give it back.” Jack says. Ralph stops and turns to face Jack. Then he raises his hand that is holding Jack’s wallet.  
“What…this? Oh. Don’t hate. Everybody needs a little seed money, yo.” Ralph says as he hands over the wallet.  
“I’ll give you 20 bucks if you let me hit you in the face.” Jack says.  
“Are you kidding me? Keep your money. This face is priceless.” Ralph says as he turns around and starts walking for the door.  
“How about 40?” Jack says.  
“You don’t have 40$.” Ralph shouts.  
“I got an extra 20.” Mac says.  
“I’ll throw in on that.” Nikki says.

Mac’s apartment 

They were all at Mac’s apartment after the mission. Nikki decides to join this time. They were telling Bozer and Leanna about everything that happened. As Nikki, Leanna and Bozer were talking at the fire place, Mac and Jack were sitting on chair next to each other with their beers.  
“I was visiting my dad today. He told me to give you something.” Jack says. He picks up his phone and gives it to Mac. “Call your father, dude. Nobody lives forever.”  
Mac sighs. “That’s never gonna work.” Mac says as he stands up and grabs a paper and a pen. “I’m writing him a letter.” Mac says.  
“A letter? That you put in the mail?” Jack asks and then laughs. “Come on, man, it’s 2016.”  
“Not to my dad, it isn’t.” Bozer, Leanna and Nikki come inside.  
“Guys, we gonna head out.” Bozer says with his hand around Leanna’s shoulder.  
“Yeah, me too.” Nikki says. “See ya, guys.”  
“Bye.” Mac says.  
Jack is the only one left with him. But he has to go to. “Imma head out too. Got some plans. What will you be doing?”  
“After I finish this…I’ll probably take a walk.” Mac says.  
“Okay, man. See ya.” Jack says as he taps Mac’s shoulder.

30 minutes later

Mac finished writing his letter for his father. His father left him when he was 10. On his birthday. He said he went on a business trip, but never came back. And since Mac’s mom died when he was 5, he lived with his grandfather. Mac and his father never talked since then. And that makes it 16 years.  
Mac got ready. He changed, took his headphones, his keys, his wallet and his car keys. Since the hill he always goes on is too far from his home, he goes there with his car. But getting up the hill is always worth it, cause then you have the most beautiful view of LA. And Mac likes to go in the evening, because there are not a lot of people up there in the evening, and seeing the city lights is always awesome. He puts on his shoes and opens the door, only to see a familiar person approaching his house. Riley. ‘What is she doing here’ he thought.  
“Hey.” She said and she realized that he was going somewhere. “Oh, I was gonna ask you if you want to hang out, but I can see you’re going somewhere.”  
“Uh…no. Actually…I was going for a walk.” He said with a shy smile. “Um…would you like to join me?” he asks. Riley smiles.  
“Yeah, sure.” She says.  
They were walking up the hill with Mac’s flashlight. To see where they were going. Riley hears a stick crack and she flinches. Mac notices that.  
“What’s wrong?” he asks.  
“Um…” she chuckles embarrassingly “I’m kinda afraid of the dark. Sorry, it’s embarrassing.” She says as she rubs her hands.  
“It’s not embarrassing at all. Everyone is afraid of something. Like, I’m afraid of heights.” Mac says with a smile.  
“Can I ask you something?” Riley says.  
“Of course.”  
“You said you had experience about being treated like you’re nothing. How did you handled that?” she asks.  
Mac sighs. “Well…I was being myself. I didn’t change at all because some kids didn’t like me, hit me, laugh at me, especially about my name. And don’t get me wrong I hated that but…I never thought about changing myself so other people can like me.” Mac says. While he was talking they reached the top of the hill. They went and leaned on the railing and watched LA.  
“Thank you.” Riley says. She turns to Mac and Mac does the same. “For what happened at the store. And for everything you told me now.” Riley says with a smile.  
“Anytime.” Mac says and grins. He takes out a paperclip and starts making a figure. Riley sees that and is confused.  
“What are you doing?” Riley asks.  
“It’s a habit. I make figures. I do it everyday. It releases stress, makes me forget about everything bad, and makes me happy.” He says as he shows a figure of a love heart. Riley grins when she sees it. “Here.” He gives the heart to Riley. “Keep it.” He says with a smile. Riley takes it and holds on to it tight.  
Riley, ignoring all the creepy sounds behind her, stayed next to Mac watching LA and the stars together till late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dont know when i'll post chapter 4 but it will happen


	4. Wire Cutter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the spelling mistakes. And about Mac fixing the keyboard, idk if i wrote it right. If i didnt im sorry. And ignore the second end note. I dont know how to get rid of it. If you do, please let me know in the comments. Thanks :D

_Ahh, Turkey. A very beautiful country. I came here a couple of times with Sarah on missions. On our lucky days, the missions were successful. We got home, celebrated and relaxed. On our unlucky days, we got shot at, took a few punches and came home with some cuts and bruises. And today was an unlucky day._

_ANKARA, TURKEY_

Mission was to get into a rouge intelligence agency and upload a virus. Simple right? No. Their covers have been blown and the whole mission went sideways. It was a race against time. They needed to finish till 4 PM. This time Leanne was on the team since the mission was for 4 agents. Jack and Leanna were running down the hallway and met up with Nikki.

“What happened?” Leanna asked.

“We got made.” Nikki replies.

“Oh, great, then I don’t have to wear this anymore.” Jack says as he takes off the fake moustache. “Damn thing itches like crazy. Where’s Mac?” Jack asks.

“Still upstairs. He wouldn’t leave until the virus finished uploading.” Nikki replies.

Mac is waiting patiently. He is sitting there in front of the monitor while looking at the phone showing how much percentage remains for the virus to upload. The bad guys started to break the door, but it didn’t work. And that’s when Mac started hearing gunshots. The bad guys started shooting the door so it would break. That’s when Mac came up with an idea. He takes a plastic bottle, some baking soda and vinegar. He puts it in the bottle and shakes it up. When the door bursts open, he throws the bottle, and there is a small explosion knocking out the bad guys. Jack was busy covering Leanna and Nikki while they got in the van.

“Jack, let’s go!” Nikki shouts.

“What about Mac?!” Jack asks while getting in the van.

“He said no matter what happens, we go.” Nikki says.

“I don’t care what he said. We’re waiting for him.” Jack says.

“Jack’s right.” Leanna adds.

They hear a loud thud from the roof of the van. Then they see Mac out of the window.

“Punch it!” Mac shouts. Leanna puts the van in gear and they are off.

_THE NEXT DAY, MAC’S APARTMENT_

It was just Mac and Bozer in Mac’s house talking about ideas for what to make in the lab when they have nothing to do. Today they both took a day so they can rest. Actually they all did. Yesterday’s mission was stressful. When you are in a race against time, you are nervous, scared, sweaty. It really is intense. Now, Jack is out with Diane and Riley shopping, Leanna is resting at her and Bozer’s home, and Nikki got sick today. She called everyone to tell her that she might not come to work for the next couple of days.

“So I was thinking…what if we actually make a robot that can do anything?” Bozer asks. Mac looks at him.

“Well…it’s a cool idea, but it’s gonna take a lot of time.” Mac says.

“So? We can start tomorrow.” Bozer says.

“You seem excited.” Mac says smiling

“I mean…come on…a robot that can do anything? That’s gonna be the coolest thing ever.” Bozer says with a grin. Then Mac’s phone buzzes. Bozer sees Mac’s face when he reads the message, and he can tell that it’s work.

Mac sighs. “It’s Matty. She needs me at DXS ASAP. Well…since she is calling us on our day off, seems important. I better go down there.” Mac says as he stands up.

“Let’s go. I’ll give you a ride.” Bozer says as he takes the keys from his car.

In the car Mac asks “What should we name him? The robot?”

“Hmm…” It takes Bozer a while “Sparky.” He replies.

“Since when do you come up with cool names?” Mac asks with a smile.

“So we naming him Sparky?” Bozer asks.

“Yeah, sure.” Mac says laughing.

_THE GROOVE SHOPPING MALL, LOS ANGELES_

Jack is obsessed with rock music. Every shirt he sees with one of his favorite bands, he goes and tries it. He bought five shirts today. And he did buy Riley a new video game, Diane a new necklace. Now he was trying a new T-shirt.

“Jack, this is the 10th T-shirt you tried today.” Diane says. Jack say anything, instead he came out of the closet with the T-shirt on smiling. He spreads out his hands, a sign that he asks how does it look.

“It looks great. But you can’t spend all the money in one day.” Diane says.

“You know how obsessed I am with this stuff.” He says referring to shopping. Diane chuckles. Then Jack’s phone buzzes. When he sees the message Jack sighs.

“Work.” He says glancing at Diane and Riley. Diane knows exactly what it is, but Riley think he’s a security guard at the think tank the others work.

“Why are they calling you?” Riley says. She really wanted to try the new game Jack bought for her with him.

“Apparently, a security guard got sick.” Jack says. But the message didn’t say that. There was a new mission. He, Mac and Leanne needed to get her. And Leanne is coming on this one since Nikki is sick. Riley sighs. Jack knows she’s sad that he can’t play the new game with her. But he has an idea. “Hey, how about I tell Bozer to come by at your place so you can play together?” Jack asks glancing at Riley. Riley knows that Bozer can be a pain in the ass sometimes cause he can’t shut up. But he is friendly and funny. So she nods. Jack kisses her on the forehead before giving her a tight hug.

_DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL SERVICES (DXS)_

Mac walks in the war room only to find Leanne waiting. No sign of Matty. Since this is Leanna’s first mission with him and Jack only he decided to joke around a little bit.

“Oh, why, hello there. Who might you be?” Mac asks jokingly.

“Help! My friend has lost their memory!” Leanna shouts smiling. She knows Mac was joking but why not make him feel awkward.

“Shhhhh.” Mac says. And Leanna starts laughing. Jack walks inside.

“What’s so funny?” he asks. Leanna was about to answer when Matty walked in.

“Sorry to call you guys on your day off, but this is very serious.” Matty says. She walks over to the screen and a picture of a man comes up. “Meet Vladimir Shevchenko. Former Spetsnaz colonel, highly trained, highly dangerous and highly unpredictable. His family was very powerful under the Soviet Union. They lost everything when the empire fell. Since then, Shevchenko’s been trying to restart the Cold War.”

“So you’re telling us this guy wants to go back to the USSR?” Jack asks.

“Don’t you dare start singing.” Mac says smiling. Jack was about to say something but he heard Matty clap.

“Guys, focus. We sent agent Banister to find Shevchenko. She discovered that Shevchenko is assembling a private militia of ex Russian military and former Spetsnaz soldiers. Banister tracked down Shevchenko to a storage facility west of Moscow and she found this.” Matty says as she brings up a picture.

“Is that…” Jack trails off.

“That’s a ten megaton Soviet warhead.” Mac says.

“Agent Banister couldn’t get it out because Shevchenko and his men came and took it. Banister fortunately escaped. But Shevchenko noticed her and tried to kill her, only he failed. So now he knows that we are on to him.” Matty says.

“So this psycho has a nuclear weapon?” Jack asks. Matty just nods.

“Well…because he knows he’s exposed, we have to assume that he just accelerated his timeline.” Mac says.

“One Russian nuke anywhere near American soil is enough for Shevchenko to start a new Cold War.” Matty says.

“Then we hunt him down before that happens. We put Mac in front of that thing and let him disarm it.” Jack says.

“That thing is seriously O.G. Can you do it?” Leanna asks Mac.

“I don’t know. The Soviets had hundreds of secret programs the US knew nothing about. Parts of this nuke look familiar to me, but…” he trails off as he walks towards the screen to get a better look at the nuke and he sees it. “this control computer here has hardware I’ve never even seen.” Mac says as he glances at Jack. “It’s custom built.”  
“Well if it’s computers were talking about,” Jack says and glances at Leanna, “think you can hack that thing?” Jack asks her. Leanna stands up and walks towards the screen. She zooms in on a little monitor that’s on the bomb.

“I’ve learned a lot of things from Nikki, but this…I’ve never seen file name extensions like this before. This operating system isn’t just old, it’s proprietary.” Leanna says.

“You know what I think?” Matty asks. “I think we’re looking at a Dead Hand device. A Soviet era bomb, designed to ensure if we ever took Moscow, Moscow took us.” Matty says as Mac takes 2 paperclips.

“Mutually assured destruction. Blast takes out the city, makes an area the size of Texas uninhabitable.” Mac says. But then he sees something. Letters. He zooms in and it says Жар-птица.

“Leanna, what does it say?” Mac says. Leanna translates it on her laptop.

“Zhar-ptitsa. It’s Russian for “firebird”.” Leanna says.

“Firebird is a name of a rumored Soviet secret weapons program.” Matty says as she puts a hand on her forehead. ‘God, I need a break.’ Leanna starts typing to see what she can find about Firebird. A lot of files come up on the screen.

“That’s a CIA debrief from a Soviet defection in 1971.” Jack says.

“From a scientist who gave the US intel on hundreds of Soviet weapons programs. Firebird happens to be one of them.” Mac says.

“Not just any scientist.” Matty says as they look at a picture of a man.

“Alexander Orlov. Firebird’s chief engineer.”

“If he programmed that bomb, he may be the only one who can tell us how to shut it down. If he’s still alive.” Mac says and glances at Leanna who already was typing. Mac puts down the paperclip figure. It looks like the infinity symbol.

“He is. In Northern Virginia.” Leanna says.

“Go. Find Orlov. Get what you need to shut down the bomb.” Matty says

“Yes, ma’am.” Mac says.

They walk out and head for the car. “So, how are we suppose to find this Russian super genius?” Jack asks.

“Well…first we check the retirement communities.” Mac says. He glances at Leanne how looks a little stressed. For her first mission with Mac and Jack, it’s kind of and extreme one. “Hey. You okay?” Mac says as he puts his hand on her shoulder. Leanna just nods.

_DIANE’S APARTMENT_

“Boom!” Bozer says as he scores a goal.

He came over at Diane’s and Riley’s apartment. Jack asked him if he wanted to play a new game he bought for Riley with her, and Bozer said yes. And he was happy he said yes because now Bozer and Riley are playing FIFA and having a lot of fun. Diane is at work. So it’s just the two of them.

“You know how to play this game, I see.” Riley says smiling.

“FIFA is one of my favorites. I’ve played a lot of them. And I always beat Mac and Leanna. They don’t stand a chance.” Bozer says. “Kind of like you. You don’t stand a chance against me.” Bozer says. Riley just chuckles. And a minute later she scores a goal and wins the game.

“You were saying?” Riley says with a smile and raised eyebrows.

“Rematch.” Bozer says. They started a new game and midway Riley spoke.

“So, how did you and Leanna meet?” Riley asks. Bozer met Leanna in spy school. But he can’t tell Riley that. He hates lying to her, but it’s for her own good.

“College. As I entered the classroom, my eyes landed on her. So I sat next to her and we started talking.” Bozer says and he smiles as all the memories come back from spy school. “I couldn’t stop staring at her, and she caught me and my cheeks lit up. Like I remember the heat I felt.” He laughs. “If you would’ve told me about love at first sight before that, I would’ve laughed.” He says. When he glances at Riley he catches her staring at him with a smile, not even paying attention to the game.

_SHADY OAKS RETIREMENT COMMUNITY_   
_SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA_

Mac, Jack and Leanna enter the building. They see a lot of old people. It smells like old people. And a lot of old furniture. They walk down the hall and arrive where the people always hang around. Mac is holding the tablet with a picture of Orlov that was taken in…probably 60s. The picture was white and black, so it’s old.

“Is this the most recent picture we have of him?” Mac says.

“He defected over 50 years ago and has been laying low ever since.” Leanna says. “It’s not like he’s posting selfies on Instagram. That’s the best picture we have.”

They hear shouting. They look around and see an old man fighting with a woman for the remote of the TV. When Leanna sees the man, she glances at the tablet once more.

“Hey…I think that’s him.” She says as she points to the man arguing. When the woman starts walking away with the remote, the man sees them. He takes some cables from behind the TV and starts running for the door that leads to the parking lot. They see Orlov is already outside. The door is closed and when they try to open it, it doesn’t work. They see the problem. Orlov wrapped the hydraulic arm with the power cord he took from behind the TV.

“Not bad.” Mac says.

“Oh my god, he’s an old you.” Jack says. Mac starts running to search for another door. Jack sees Leanna looking out the window and joins her too see what Orlov is doing. He’s trying to steal a car.

“Grandpa Theft Auto. I like this guy.” Leanna says smiling. Jack sighs and starts running in the direction Mac went. Mac made it outside, and made it to Orlov before he could steal a car. When Mac stops running and starts walking, he sees Orlov throw a rock in the window of the driver’s seat, breaking it. He takes out his knife so he can hotwire the car, but it’s no use.

“The power cord on the door was a nice move. And I truly respect anybody who can try and hotwire a car with a steak knife, but I need to talk to you!” Mac says. He shouts the word “you” cause he dodges a swing from Orlov with his knife. Mac grabs the hand that has the knife and pushes Orlov towards the car.

“Stay away from me, you KGB bastard!” Orlov shouts.

“KGB…KGB was disbanded before I was even born!” Mac says trying to hold Orlov still. But the old man got some strength. In fact, Orlov swings his left arm and hits Mac in the right cheek. Mac falls to the ground and Orlov starts running.

“Dr. Orlov. Please, it’s about Firebird.” Mac says. He sees Orlov stop and turn around to look at Mac.

“Zhar-ptitsa?” Orlov asks.

“Yes. I need your help or a lot of people are going to die.” Mac says.

_ORLOV’S ROOM_

When they got inside, Orlov just sat down on his bed and runs his hand through his hair. Leanna saw a lot of papers hanging on the wall. She went to check it out and saw a lot of formulas, calculations and fusion reactor drawn on a list.

“This is a fusion reactor.” Leanna says.

“I wanted to give my country cheap power, but all the Kremlin wanted was more bombs.” He wipes his face with his hands and stands up. “I’m not a scientist anymore. Just an old man, scribbling on the walls.” Orlov says as he nods towards the papers on the walls. “Makes no difference.”

“But you can still make a difference.” Mac says as he shows a picture to Orlov of the warhead.

“But that is the reason I defected. A weapon made for one thing only: to make sure that if the Soviets lost, the whole world lost with us. This is not a strategy. It’s madness.” Orlov says as he points to the warhead. “After the Cold War, it was supposed to be decommissioned.”

Mac nods and says “That’s our job now.” Orlov sighs and looks down. He shakes his head like he can’t believe this is happening.

“You created this programming language, right?” Leanna asks as she shows Orlov the picture of the codes.

“Yeah.” Orlov answers with a quiet voice.

“Then, I’m pretty sure you’re the only man alive who can tell us how to shut down the bomb.” Leanna says.

“No, once device has been activated, knowing the language is only half of the equation. You need the passwords.” Orlov says.

“Passwords?” Jack asks. He glances at Leanna. “You can crack like… them or whatever, right?”

“On a 50 year old machine with a custom O.S….Not likely. Especially when one wrong move equals a mushroom cloud.” Leanna says.

“Who has these passwords?” Mac asks Orlov.

“Our side was so paranoid. Scientists had different duties than spies. Well, like you two, maybe.” Orlov says glancing at Mac and Jack.

“You have the brains, yes?” He asks Mac. “And you…” turning towards Jack “I think not so much.” Jack closes his eyes and twitches his head. “We need my handler, Viktor Levkin. The man who ran the program. He had clearance, and he alone knew the passwords to shut down the bomb.” Orlov says.

“Please…tell me he’s still alive.” Jack says.

“Da. We are the only two left.”

“Can you take us to him?” Mac asks. Orlov glances at him, then at Leanna, and then at Jack.

“I need a phone.” He replies.

They walk out outside with Orlov. Orlov is doing something with Jack’s phone. Jack didn’t want to give him his phone but he did it anyway. And he regrets it.

“So, where is this Viktor?” Mac asks. No answer from Orlov as he types something on the phone.

“We’re kind of on the clock here.” Leanna says. “How long will it take to get to him?” No answer again. Then the phone starts beeping and Jack knows that sound.

“Yo, we have a car dude. You don’t need to call an Uber, okay?” Jack says. Orlov lifts his head up and looks at Jack.

“Nyet. Nyet!” Orlov asks raising his voice a little with the last “nyet”.  
Orlov pays attention to the phone again.

“What are you…” Jack glances at Mac. “That’s like three rides he’s canceled. This guy’s killing my Uber score.” Jack says. “Why is he even using my phone in the first place?”

“Because, he won’t come if he knows it’s me.” Orlov says as he hands the phone to Jack.

1 hour later, Viktor arrives. And let’s say he wasn’t too happy seeing Orlov. He opens the car and takes a pistol.

“Nyet! Refuse service! Refuse service!” Viktor shouts as he aims the gun towards Orlov. Jack was quick though, he took the gun out of Viktor’s hands.

“Whoa! I don’t think so, dude.” Jack says. But Viktor doesn’t stop there. He reaches for his back. “What are you doing?” Jack asks.  
“Stop it.” Viktor doesn’t stop, instead he takes the gun from his back and aims it again at Orlov. Jack takes that one too out of his hands. “Stop it!” Viktor reaches for the ankle and Jack sees another gun. He takes it before Viktor can. “Are you out of your mind? I like your style, dude, but we’re just talking here.” Jack says glancing at Viktor.

“I will never talk to you, KGB pig!” Viktor shouts.

“They are not KGB.” Orlov says calmly.

“Like, you’d tell me if they were!” Viktor shouts.

“I should have known you will act like that.” Orlov says approaching Viktor. “You always act like that.”

“Always act like what?! Like what?! We haven’t spoken since 1991!” Viktor shouts again. _‘He’s really, really, really pissed’_ Leanna said to herself.

“Like imbecile! This is what you do.” Orlov says.

“You are the one who always fails to share mission-critical intellingence!” Viktor shouts.

“Oh, it’s Cuba. All over.” Orlov says and Viktor grabs him by the shirt.

“We agreed not to talk about Cuba!

“Should we…” Jack says as he spreads his hand towards the two angry Russians.

“It’s fun watching these two argue, but I think we are wasting time.” Leanna says.

Mac goes over and separates Viktor and Orlov. “Enough! You two are the only ones who can stop a nuclear bomb.” Mac says. He sees them both calm down and let’s go of them. “And we’re on the wrong side of the planet.”

“What is the right side of the planet?” Orlov says. And Jack starts singing. Mac knew it was going to happen, the question was when.

“Jack.” Mac says with an angry voice. Jack stops singing.

“I second you never singing again.” Leanna says.

“Hey, FYI, that’s a classic, Iron Maiden, “Mother Russia”.” Jack says.

“I swore I’d never go back.” Orlov says dramatically.

_DXS JET_

Orlov and Viktor have been exchanging bathrooms every half hour. When Orlov comes out, he’s greeted by Viktor, who’s tapping his finger on his wrist telling him that he took too long.

“That’s 3 times since we took off.” Leanna says glancing at Mac. Mac shows 4 fingers. Looks like Leanna missed one. Orlov goes and sits across Mac.

“So…what are you?” he asks smiling. “Electrical engineer, a physicist, mechanic?”

“A little bit of, uh, column A, and a little bit of column B.” Mac says with a smile.

“One thing he’s not, is you.” Leanna says. “If we’re gonna take down the bomb, I need you to teach me your code.” Leanna says as she opens her laptop.

Jack and Viktor are sitting at the back watching them work. “So, your friend is brain, and you are…?” Viktor asks.

“Oh, yeah, well, I’m-I’m kinda the muscle. I watch his back. We’re a team.” Jack replies with a smile.

“How many times you have saved his life?” Viktor asks.

“Well, to be honest, he’s probably saved mine more, added all up.” Jack says.

“Mm, I remember that feeling. Good feeling.” Viktor says.

They continued talking, Viktor telling him about his past and stuff,  
until Mac phone started ringing.

“Matty.” He says. He picks up.

“Mac, we just got intel that Shevchenko is taking the bomb to Serbia. Did you get Orlov?” Matty asks.

“Yeah, he’s here, on board, with a plus-one.” Mac replies. “I’ll call you when we get to Serbia.” Mac says and before he hangs up Orlov speaks.

“We need cheget.”

Leanna glances at him confused. “We need a what?”

“Cheget. Computer that talks to the bomb’s computer. Without Cheget we can’t tell it to turn off.” Orlov says.

“Uh, Matty, we may need to make a quick pit stop.” Mac says.

“Whatever you need to do, do it fast. Because you were right. Shevchenko plans to detonate the bomb in the next 24 hours.” Matty says. She sounds nervous. Well, who blames her. If they don’t stop the bomb, a war will start. A big war. Mac hangs up and leans towards Leanna.

“So, we need something else now?” Mac asks.

“Apparently, two grumpy old Russians aren’t enough. We need a grumpy old computer as well.” Leanna replies.

“This is beginning to feel like some, Cold War scavenger hunt.” Jack says. “So, where do we get one of these Chuggernauts?” Jack asks.

“Cheget.” Orlov and Viktor say simultaneously.

“Yeah, whatever.” Jack says.

“You mean one of these?” Leanna asks as she turns the laptop towards Jack for him to see what a Cheget looks like.

“I killed 27 people to keep that a secret, and now is on World Wide Web for whole world to see.” Viktor says.

“Even secrets get old, Viktor.” Orlov says.

“Okay, where do we get one?” Jack asks. He glances at Mac, and he can see that there is a problem.

Mac sighs. “Well according to this…” he points to the laptop “we don’t. They were destroyed when the Dead Hands were completed.” Mac says. Jack closes his eyes and leans back on the seat. “They didn’t want anyone able to shut them down.” ‘Now, what?’ Jack thought. Then Viktor spoke.

“Do not believe everything you read. They were not all destroyed.” Viktor says.

_DIANE’S APARTMENT_

Bozer and Riley have been playing for two hours. It was 3 PM so instead of cooking, they ordered Thai food. Bozer loves cooking, but he loves FIFA more. After lunch Bozer plans to go to DXS. See what’s going on and stuff. While they were eating, Riley wasn’t talking and barely eating. So Bozer decided to break the silence.

“So…what about you? How many guys have you dated?” Bozer asks. Riley glances at him before lowering her head.

“None.” She simply answered as she took a bite of her food. She glances at Bozer who is giving her the “are you serious?” look. “I didn’t have friends at school. Everyone avoided me cause they thought I was weird. For knowing so much about technology. I was…” she trailed off and exhaled with a shaky breath. “I was bullied. Two girls treated me like I was nothing.” She says as a tear starts flowing down her cheek. She wipes it off quickly. Bozer is looking at her and listening to her carefully. Even though he wasn’t bullied, he still knows what she feels like. Mac was being bullied a lot in highschool by some prick named Donnie.

“Sorry…” he says. Riley shakes her head.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Just so you know, if you ever want to talk, I’m here for you. As is Mac and Leanna. And Jack and your mother of course. Just…if you feel embarrassed and that’s the reason you don’t want to talk, don’t be. There is nothing to be embarrassed of. Okay?” Bozer says with a smile. Riley glances at him with her watery eyes and nods. Bozer stands up and picks up the empty plates.

“Let me.” Riley says as she starts standing up but Bozer stopped her.

“It’s okay, I got it.” Bozer says. Bozer finishes washing and gets dressed up to leave. Before he leaves he turns his attention to Riley.

“Remember what I said, okay? You are family now and we are here for you, always.” Bozer says.

“Thank you.” Riley replies. Bozer spreads his arms for a goodbye hug and Riley accepts the hug.

_ZHUKOVKA, RUSSIA_

Viktor takes them to a house 30 km away from Moscow. “Safe house. From KGB days.” He says. “You hide something well enough, even greedy capitalists like Putin can’t find it.” Viktor points to a picture on the wall. On the picture it’s him and Orlov drinking…vodka probably.

“You still have it.” Orlov says with a smile.

“It was the right size to hide this.” Viktor says as he removes the picture to reveal a safe. Orlov glances at Mac and Jack.

“That’s us, 50 years ago.” Orlov says pointing at the picture. Viktor opens the safe and they all see one Cheget. “You really kept one?” he asks Viktor. “But the orders were to destroy them all.”

“Sometimes orders are stupid.” Viktor says as he takes the Cheget and hands it to Orlov.

“So you had your doubts, too?” Orlov asks.

“Of course I had doubts.” Viktor says.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Orlov asks Viktor as he hands the Cheget to Jack.

“You gave me no choice. You defected without warning. Left me behind.” Viktor says as he turns away from Orlov. Orlov sighs and looks down at the floor. Leanna sees the Cheget cable and bits her lip in frustration.

“We can’t use this for anything yet. Runs on Russian 240 volt A.C., if it runs at all.” Leanna says.

“Ah, voltage.” Orlov adds.

“We can’t guarantee Shevchenko gonna put the bomb near an outlet, so we need to figure out how to make this into a portable…Cheget-back.” Leanna says.

“Is there anything Nikki didn’t thought you?” Jack says. Leanna just smiles.

“I’m gonna need your computer battery for that.” Mac says.

“Good thing I brought a backup.” She says as she takes out another laptop from her bag.

“You carry around two computer?” Jack asks.

“You carry a backup gun, don’t you?” Leanna asks.

“And a backup to the backup, yes ma’am. You do too.” Jack says. Leanna’s not only good with computers. She is a good fighter, and a good shooter.

“I thought I’d never see this again.” Orlov says looking at the Cheget.  
“Then again, I thought I’d never see Moscow again.”

“What made you decide to leave?” Mac asks Orlov as he takes out the battery from the computer.

“I spent my life building bombs like Firebird, make them better, stronger. I thought about nothing else. When I watched test, not like other test. This one we incinerate houses. With sofas, with lamps, with mannequins for people eating dinner at a kitchen table. And in a flash…” he imitates an explosion “everything gone.” Orlov says. “And after this, I couldn’t think of my work without thinking of my nephew having dinner with his parents at the kitchen table. They would never let me stop making bombs, so I…I had to defect.” He sighs. “I was a coward. I was trying to run from something I made. We-we are responsible what we create.”

“But you never told Levkin what you were going through?” Mac asks as he makes the final touches on the Cheget.

“Those old secrets…cost me my country, my best friend.” Orlov says. Mac finishes with the Cheget and Orlov turns it on. And it works. The little monitor turns on and the codes appear.

“Nice job, Mac. The Cheget is now a laptop.” Leanna says with a smile. Then an alarm starts ringing. Everyone was confused except for Orlov and Viktor. Viktor started reloading his gun.

“Perimeter alarm.” He says. Jack took his gun out, and so did Leanna. Jack ran to the window and saw men with guns approaching the house.

“Spetsnaz.” He says. Viktor turned off the lights in the room.

“USSR may be gone, but the Soviets never forget an enemy. They must have recognized us at the airport. Get down.” Viktor says. They all duck down just in time, because bullets start coming in. Broken glass was flying everywhere. Viktor opened a door that was on the other side of the room.

“This way! Come on! Into the rabbit hole!” Viktor shouts.

“What’s a rabbit hole?” Leanna asks as she starts running.

“As long as it’s bullet proof, who cares.” Jack says. Mac was the last one in the room. While they all made it in the “rabbit hole”, Mac was getting the Cheget. They all went through without any troubles. Well…not Mac. As he was running for the door with the Cheget in his hands, a bullet grazed him on the shoulder.

“Ah! Son of a bitch!” He shouts. It stings. Now there is blood on his shirt. He wants to see how bad the cut is, but there is no time. They go in a room with a bed. Mac puts the Cheget on the bed.

“Mac, you’re bleeding.” Leanna says.

“Yeah, I know.” Mac says as he spots two bags of flour. “Jack, hold these.” He says as he gives the bags to Jack. Mac takes a clock, 2 batteries and some paperclips from his pocket. Viktor opens another door. It’s a tunnel that leads outside.

“This way!” Viktor shouts. Viktor and Orlov go first. Leanna puts the Cheget in the back pack and follows them. Mac starts winding up the clock.

“Unless this plan ends with me eating a thousand pancakes, I don’t like it.” Jack says. Mac takes out his knife and cuts the bags that are carried by Jack.

“Start shaking them.” Mac says. They hear gunshots behind them. ‘They caught up’. A bullet hits above Mac’s head. There is flour everywhere behind them, and the shooting stopped. ‘They can’t see. Perfect’. They all make it to the door.

“What’s the flour for, Mac?” Leanna asks.

“In a high concentration, the air and the flour are very flammable.” Mac replies. He puts the clock on the ground. “Alright. Let’s go!” Mac shouts and they all run out. Mac closes the door behind him and then there is a loud explosion. Mac, Jack and Leanna run so they can catch up with Viktor and Orlov. But they only see Viktor, laying on the ground, blood on his forehead, with an unconscious man next to him.

“Viktor, what happened?” Leanna asks kneeling next to Viktor.

“They knew about the safe house and the tunnel.” Viktor replies.

“Where’s Orlov?” she asks.  
c  
“They took him. They took Alexie.” Viktor says. Mac sighs in frustration and wipes his face with his hand. The he glances at Jack.

“We can’t stop the bomb without him.” Mac says.

_DXS JET_

Mac was cleaning his cut on the shoulder. Fortunately, it didn’t need stitches.

“So, who can tell me how you get the device and then lose the guy who’s the only one who knows how to use it?” Matty asks. She is pissed. They called her to fill her in. Mac and Jack started speaking at the same time but Viktor interrupted.

“It was my fault. I failed Alexie.”

“This is Viktor Levkin. Former K…” Jack was interrupted by Matty.

“Former KGB. I was his name in Orlov’s debrief.” Matty says. “What’s he doing there?”

“He’s the only one who knows the passwords to shut down the bomb. And he’s the reason we have the Cheget.” Mac says.

“He’s also the only reason we have this.” Leanna says taking out a phone from her pocket. She got it from the unconscious man that was next to Viktor. “Shevchenko’s man are communicating via encrypted phones. And since was made in my lifetime, I can hack it. Thanks to Nikki.” She sits down and opens her laptop. “Now we have the encryption key.”

“Good. Agent Bannister was fit to go and steal this USB of  
Shevchenko’s courier.” She says. “I’m sending you the file. Crack it.” Matty says. A notification pops up on Leanna’s laptop. She opens it and gets to work.

“Okay. I’ve got exfil instructions for friendlies, blast radius, minimal safe distance and GPS coordinates.” Leanna says.

“The location of Shevchenko’s target.” Matty adds. The location pops up on the laptop and Jack takes a better look.

“That is Camp Bondsteel, US army base outside of Kosovo.” Jack says.

“Wait, Shevchenko just sent this?” Mac asks.

“Yeah.” Leanna replies.

“He’s telling his people to get clear. He’s going to detonate the bomb today.” Mac says.

“How much time left till you touch down in Kosovo?” Matty asks.

“10 minutes, give or take.” Jack says.

“As soon as you land…” Matty couldn’t finish because Mac interrupted her.

“Yes, we know.”

_DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL SERVICES (DXS)_

Bozer was in the lab. He was bored, so he started drawing the robot he and Mac are planning to make. He was kind of sleepy. He wasn’t sleeping well these couple of days, and he doesn’t know why. He was alone in the lab, since it was late. Matty was talking to the team 30 minutes ago, and she is still here. 20 minutes ago, Bozer saw a person walking past the lab with a backpack and a black hoodie. The person had his cap on and was looking down. Bozer couldn’t see a face, but he thought that the sleepiness with playing with him.  
All of a sudden, people started coming in the lab. They were all worried. Bozer didn’t know what’s going on until he heard a conversation between to women.

“Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Like…why would she steal the virus.”

“I told you, I don’t know.”

“Oh, god.”

Bozer heard enough. He stood up quickly and ran to war room. Matty was sitting on a chair just looking at the floor.

“Matty, what’s going on?” Bozer asks. Matty glances at him, and she knows what he’s talking about.

“Do you remember, the virus Mac, Jack and Nikki retrieved?” Matty asks.

“Yeah. And?” Bozer asks.

“The virus was stolen.” She replies.

“How? How did they get down there even?” Bozer asks. Matty doesn’t answer. She turns on a footage from the security cameras. Bozer sees a person with a black hoodie and backpack. ‘So I wasn’t seeing things.’ When the person got the virus, he turned towards the exit, and the camera caught the person’s face. And Bozer froze. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Orlov didn’t know what was happening. He had a bag on his head and he couldn’t see anything. All he knows is that this bag was on his head for a long time, and he’s sitting on a chair tied up. Then someone takes the bag and Orlov can now see. And it wasn’t a pretty sight. He saw Firebird in front of him, a couple of men with gun and Shevchenko.

“Dr. Orlov.” Shevchenko says with his deep voice. “Say hello to your child. Locked away for over half a century. Now free to fulfill it’s destiny. It is a masterpiece.” He says glancing at the warhead. Then he glances at Orlov. “And you are an artist. I am here to commission your next great works. I want you to build me more.”

“The hell I will.” Orlov says. He doesn’t sound scared at all. He wants Shevchenko to know that he is not scared of him.

“But this is the only reason you are still alive. I’ve been amassing uranium for years. We are finally going to do what the Soviet Union should’ve done a long time ago: not just restart the Cold War, but finish it. And this time, Russia will win.”

“You are insane. I’d rather die, than help you.” Orlov says. Shevchenko smiles and leans closer to Orlov.

“I’ve always enjoyed a challenge, Doctor.” Shevchenko says.

_KOSOVO PRIVATE AIRSTRIP_

Mac, Jack, Leanna and Levkin just landed. It was more than 10 minutes. It was 40. Jack got the math wrong. No surprise. When they are about to go to the army base, Matty calls them.

“Matty?” Mac answers the video call.

“Guys, where are you?” Matty asks. They can see Bozer sitting in the backround too, and he doesn’t look very happy.

“We just landed.” Jack says.

“Just landed? I thought you said you were gonna land in 10 minutes, 40 minutes ago.” Matty says.

“Jack and math are not a good combination, Matty.” Leanna says with a smile.

“EOD just did a sweep around the base and didn’t find a nuke. They are gonna do another sweep but they’re saying that the nuke isn’t there.” Matty says.

“Are you kidding me?” Jack says.

“Wait, Firebird isn’t a scalpel, it’s a sledgehammer. Just because the base is the target, doesn’t mean that the bomb is physically there.” Mac says. Leanna opens her laptop.

“I’m pulling up satellite imagery of the area.”

“We’re looking for anything within the blast radius, about three clicks in every direction around the base.” Mac says. As Leanna was typing and Mac and Jack were looking, Jack sees something.

“Hold on, wait a minute. Look at that factory. It may be overgrown and abandoned, but check out that dirt. Those are fresh tire treads right there, man.” Jack says.

“That’s got to be where Shevchenko is.” Mac says.

“Go.” Matty says. But before she hangs up she hears Leanna.

“Hey Matty…are you okay? And is Bozer okay? He doesn’t look very happy behind you.” Leanna says. Matty can’t tell them what happened, because they will get distracted on the mission. She’ll tell them when they get back.

“We’re fine. Now go and stop Shevchenko.” Matty says and hangs up.

“Something’s up back home.” Leanna says.

“Maybe, but we can’t think about that right now. Let’s go.” Mac says as they all get in the car and drive off.

They arrive at the factory and see a lot of guards, military cars and trucks.

“Either this is it, or we’ve ran across a Spetsnaz convention.” Mac says.

“That crate’s empty.” Jack says as he points to an empty crate on a truck. “The bomb must be in the building.”

“It’ll be on the top floor. Elevation will maximize blast radius.” Mac says.

“They must have brought Orlov here with the bomb. We must go now.” Viktor says as he takes out his gun. But Jack stops him.

“Whoa, hang on now. I appreciate your enthusiasm Viktor, I really do, but we can’t actually go in walking through the front door, can we Mac?” Jack asks.

“No.” Mac says. And then he sees a truck that’s far away from the guards. “But we can drive.” Before they go they hear a voice from behind them.

“Got room for another one?” When they turn around they see a familiar face that they saw on the screen in the war room.

“Agent Bannister? What are you doing here?” Jack asks.

“Well…” she reloads her gun “my mission was to stop Shevchenko. And here I am to finish it.” She says with a smile.

“Alright, then, let’s go.” Mac says.

Orlov receives a right hook in his face. “I’ll never…” he couldn’t finish cause he receives another right hook “…help you.” He says with a quiet voice.

“Oh, but you will.” Shevchenko says. “We are going to bring Russia back to greatness. Or I will wipe your entire family off the face of the Earth. I know your nephew lives in Novgorod, with his wife and three daughters.”

“You bastard.” Orlov says. He can barely speak from the pain.

“Pack up. We’re taking good doctor with us while he considers his options.” Shevchenko says. He goes and kneels next to the bomb to activate it.

“NO!” Orlov shouts at Shevchenko, but it’s not like Shevchenko will listen. He presses the final button and the timer starts.

“15 minutes until minimal safe distance gentleman. Let’s be on our way.” Shevchenko says. As Shevchenko started walking, they hear gunshots from outside. And an engine revving. The next thing they hear is a loud crash. Shevchenko glances at the bottom floor to see a truck inside the warehouse.

Jack comes out from the truck and starts shooting, hitting a man that was in front of him. Leanna and Mac come out from the back and start running for the stairs that lead to the top floor. Jack, Bannister and Viktor are covering them. They get to the top floor and hide behind some boxes. Leanna takes a peek and sees that the bomb timer is counting down.

“I got Orlov and the bomb. It’s counting down!” Leanna shouts. “He’s not gonna last long out there Mac.”

“I know.” Leanna spots two Spetsnaz coming up the stairs.

“We got company.” She says. She spots a barrel. She knocks it over, rolls it down the stairs taking out the bad guys.

“Nicely done.” Mac says.

“Thanks.” Leanna replies. Jack makes it to the top floor while Bannister and Viktor are still busy downstairs.

“Did you just Donkey Kong those two guys?” Jack asks Leanna.

“Yeah.”

“That was awesome.” Jack says with a grin. Then his face turns into serious mode when he sees 3 guys shooting at him. He takes cover behind the wall.

“Cover me.” Mac says. Jack comes out and starts shooting and running towards the bomb, with Mac behind him. Mac spots a rolling cart and a chain host. He ties the chain host to the rolling car.

“Pull that when I tell you.” Mac says to Leanna pointing to the lever. Leanna nods. Mac lays on the rolling cart and pushes himself forward towards Orlov. When he gets to Orlov, he pushes the chair backwards so it’s on the cart. Mac rolls and takes cover and shouts

“Now!”. Leanna pushes the lever and Orlov is going back to Leanna.

Orlov arrives at Leanna. “Shevchenko must not escape. He has materials for more bombs.” He says.

“We won’t let him.” Bannister says as she joins the others. They hear glass shattering, and they realized it was Shevchenko escaping. Jack and Bannister start running after him.

“Ladies first.” Jack says and Bannister doesn’t waste time. She goes through the window and starts shooting. She hit his shoulder, but Shevchenko kept running. He even grabbed a pistol from a dead guy and he fires back.

Back at the factory, Viktor made it to the top floor and hugged Orlov tight. They break up when they hear a worried voice.

“Mac, we got a problem. This keyboard is toast.” She says as she holds a keyboard with a bullet hole.

“I cannot stop the bomb if I can’t talk to the computer.” Orlov says. Mac glances at the bomb. For once he doesn’t know what to do.

“How are we doing, Mac?” Jack asks over the comms.

“Not as smooth as I’d like.”

“Well, I totally believe in you, cause, well, you know, if you blow it we’re all dead. No big deal.” Jack says.

“So, no pressure.” Mac says. He looks around and spots some wires.

He takes the wires and sees a gear, a hook and a bolt. ‘Perfect’. He ties 1 wire to the bolt, 1 to the gear, and 1 to the hook. He puts the wires where the keys of the keyboards are missing and ‘Voila’.

“Bolt, hook, gear. Each is now a key. Your body is the ground, so when you touch them…” he is interrupted by Orlov.

“My body completes the circuit and I become one with my creation.” Orlov says with a grin.

“Exactly.” Orlov gets to work. Then Jack comes over on the comms.

“We got Shevchenko. How’s it going over there?”

“So far, so good.” Mac says. While Orlov is typing, Viktor spots a Spetsnaz still alive laying on the ground. He takes out his gun and shoots, but the Spetsnaz also shot and he hit Viktor in the chest.

“Viktor!!” Orlov shouts as he kneels next to him.

“Go to the keyboard. The…th…the-the password is…” Viktor says and he tells him Orlov the password that’s in Russian. Orlov types the password. And then he groans in frustration.

“This computer is too old. Commands are taking forever to execute, and we don’t have enough time.” He says glancing at Mac. Mac sighs. ‘How is this happening’. He glances at the bomb and it hits him.

“When you wrote this, how many digits did you use for the year?”

“Two.” Orlov says. “Nobody thought that those weapons would last that long.”

“The Y2K glitch…maybe we can use that here.” Mac says. Orlov starts typing. The next thing they see is that the timer stopped and now says “YR 1916”. Mac starts laughing in relief. “Didn’t know how to handle the turn of the century, huh?” Orlov hummed in agreement and glanced at Viktor.

“Viktor, we did it. We did it!” he says as he kneels down. But the joy is gone with he sees the blood on Viktor’s jacket. “Viktor…we need to get you a doctor.”

“No…no. There is no time.” Viktor says glancing at Orlov. Jack and Bannister come back. “Just listen, my old friend. I wasn’t angry at you for…leaving Russia. I was hurt because you didn’t trust me enough to tell me your plan.” He says as a tear flows down his temple. “I would have gone with you.

“I wanted to protect you, Viktor.” Orlov says.

“That was always my job. I love you, old friend.” Viktor says as his eyes close.

“Viktor? Viktor?” Orlov reaches to see if he has a pulse. Nothing. Mac puts his hand on his shoulder.

The police, the ambulance, EOD, all of them came at the factory. Orlov just lost his partner, best friend, brother. And they all knew how it felt like, especially Mac. Losing Reese broke him, just like Orlov losing Viktor.

“Man…Viktor was a good man.” Jack says.

“Yeah, he was.” Mac says as he glances at Orlov looking at the sky.

“You okay?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, it’s just…I know how it feels…losing a partner.” Mac says. Jack puts his arm around Mac’s shoulders.

“Just so you know, I’m here for you man. Always.” Jack says.

“Thanks.” Mac says with a smile.

“And can I just tell you something? Your fashion sense…it’s-it’s terrible.” Jack says. Mac looks at himself and is so confused.

“What?” he asks with a quiet voice. “Uh, ho…wh…why-why is this coming up?” Mac asks.

“I’m just saying…do you get dressed in the dark or something?” Jack laughs and Mac does too, but not because it’s funny.

“Okay. You know what, since we’re being honest, I hate your singing. Always have. You’re terrible. You butcher Iron Maiden.”

“Butchered Iron Maiden? Well, I’ll have you know that I’m the karaoke champion, in like, four states.” Mac starts laughing.

“Who even decides…? Alright, prove it.” Jack starts singing Salt N Pepa. “Not here.” He starts dancing too. “What did Salt and Pepper ever do to you?” Mac asks as he starts walking but Jack puts a hand on his chest to stop.

“Ah, ah. It’s Salt N Pepa.” Jack says and Mac can’t stop laughing.

“You’re a terrible dancer.” Mac says as he walks away.

“Four states.” Jack shouts.

_MAC’S APARTMENT_

They all went home…well Mac’s home. Jack invited Riley too. They were having a beer, Jack talking about his singing contests. Even Riley said that he was a terrible singer and dancer. They were all having a fun time…except Bozer. What happened with the virus…Matty said to go in one hour to DXS to tell them all. Bozer went in the kitchen, and Jack followed him. Jack noticed he was sad, angry. ‘Something definitely happened while we were in Serbia.’ Leanna followed them as well, leaving Riley and Mac on the porch in the evening.

“Boze, what’s up, man?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, you’ve been acting weird since we got back. Even in the video chat we had.” Leanna says. Bozer just glances at them. And then he says

“You’ll see later.” He takes an angry sip. Jack and Leanna decided not to push it, so they stayed with him in the kitchen.

“Did you know, that every star you see in the night sky is bigger and brighter than our sun?” Mac asks Riley.

“Really? How?” Riley asks

“Well, of the 5000 or so stars brighter than magnitude 6, only a handful of every faint stars are approximately the same size and brightness of our sun and the rest are all bigger and brighter. Of the brightest 50 stars visible to the human eye from Earth, the least intrinsically bright is Alpha Centauri, which is still more than 1.5 times more luminous than our sun, and cannot be easily seen from the most of the Northern Hemisphere.” Mac says. When he glances at Riley, he finds her looking at him with a grin.

“How do you know all this stuff?” Riley asks. Mac smiles and shrugs.

“I watch a lot of documentaries.” He says. Riley watches Mac in the eyes. How the fire reflects on his eyes. Mac slowly moves his head to see if Riley will remain frozen. When he moves she gets back in the reality and she starts laughing, hiding the blush and red cheeks. Mac just stares at her with a big smile.

“Alright, Mac. Let’s go.” Jack says.

“Where are you going?” Riley asks.

Mac sighs. “Late meeting. Our boss called us an hour ago.” Riley can tell that Mac doesn’t want to go.

“Come on, Ri. We’ll drop you off at home.” Jack says.

_DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL SERVICES (DXS)_

When they arrive at DXS, almost everybody has gone home. Well it was late. Like 10 PM. So if Matty called them this late it must be very serious. When they walk in the war room, they catch her looking at the floor while standing in front of the screen.

“Hey, boss lady.” Jack says. Matty raises her head. “Is everything okay?” Matty shakes her head. They all exchange looks, except Bozer who was looking at the ground.

“Okay, what’s going on? First, Bozer is acting like…” Mac couldn’t finish cause Matty interrupted them.

“Do you remember the…virus you guys retrieved?” Matty asks.

“Yeah.” Mac replies.

“Well…it’s was stolen.” Matty says. Mac and Jack exchange worried looks.

“H..how?” Jack asks. Matty remains silent.

“How did they even get down there? You have to know the code right?” Leanna asks.

“Yeah, and the only ones that know the code are workers from here.” Mac says. Matty turns around and plays the footage. They all see a person with a black hoodie and a backpack. When the person got the virus, he turned around for the exit and the camera caught his face. Correction…her face. When they saw the face they all froze.

“Nikki?” Jack’s chest tightens, Mac can’t believe what he is seeing.

“Uh…this…”

“Is real.” Matty finishes for Mac.

“No, Nikki is one of us. She had a reason, surely. Maybe somebody blackmailed her.” Leanna says. Mac was remembering everytime Nikki avoided to hang out with them, wouldn’t look Mac in the eye, hanging up the phone in like 10 seconds. And now he knows what was going on. She wasn’t on their side.

“She wasn’t…blackmailed.”

“How do you know that?” Jack asks.

“Because…she left a letter saying that she and the Organization are gonna…apparently rule this world.” Matty says.

“The…Organization?” Leanna asks.

“The people…that killed Reese.” Mac says with a shaky voice. “She was playing us for 1 and a half year.” Mac says with a quiet voice, but filled with rage. Jack is glancing at everyone, who are just sitting and doing nothing.

“Well? We can’t just sit here and do nothing.” Jack says. “Do we have any leads?” he asks. Matty just shakes her head.

“She was on foot. We were following her on the traffic cameras, but we lost her in an alleyway.” Matty replies.

“Have you checked her apartment?” Leanna asks.

“Yes. Nothing. Nothing that will help us find her.”

“So, the virus is out there somewhere that will kill millions if it’s released, and we don’t know where it is or when it’s gonna be released?” Jack asks with a raised voice. _‘If we find Nikki, she’s dead.’_ Everybody remained silent. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“I don’t understand. She saved us thousands of times, she teach me everything about computers.” Leanna says.

“And that is called “undercover”.” Matty says.

“So the comms going off in Italy was a lie. She knew.” Mac says. “Nikki is the reason Reese died.” He says as he stood up and left the room. He needed to be alone.

When he got home, it was dark. He didn’t bother to turn on the light. He went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He drank it in one go. Then he just stood there. All the memories from Italy are coming back. The people, the boat, the explosion, the gunshot, the pain he had when the bullet hit him, and the pain he had when he saw his partner fall to the ground not moving. _'R_ _EESE!!!'_. Mac yells and throws the glass across the room. It shatters everywhere. A tear slid down his cheek and he says

“Reese, I’m gonna find her and make her pay. She’s gonna pay for what she did!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are appreciated. :D


	5. Toothpick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is. Chapter 5. If you like it, drop a kudos and a comment :D

_1 WEEK AFTER THE VIRUS WAS STOLEN_

Mac was the most broken out of all of them. Learning the truth about Nikki made him angry, and the fact that she is the reason Reese died, that makes it worse. There was no missions for the whole week. The techs guys at DXS were trying to find Nikki. But it was hard without no leads. But they knew that Nikki was laying low, because she is not that stupid to think that nobody is gonna look for her. So the virus won’t get released anytime soon. But it will if they don’t find Nikki. She is a computer genius, so she knows how to cover her tracks. They were running facial rec 24/7 on street cameras, phone cameras. So far nothing.

_MAC’S HOUSE_

Mac did nothing for a whole week. He only goes to the store, and for his daily walk so he can calm down. He didn’t go to DXS at all. Jack came over from time to time to see how he was doing. Bozer and Leanna were working with the techs to find Nikki. Mac told Jack not to bring Riley to visit, to tell her that he is sick. And Jack did that. Riley called to ask him how he was doing. She sounded worried. Mac did his best to sound happy when he was talking to Riley. And he thinks it worked. She called daily.

Mac was the only person other than Jack and Diane that Riley felt comfortable to talk to about anything. They had the same problems when they were kids. When she tried to talk to someone about technology in her school, they all laughed after she explained something. But when she was explaining to Mac, he just stared at her and listened carefully about everything she said. But now, they haven’t seen each other for a week.

Mac hates lying to Riley. Telling her he works for a think tank, instead he gets into fist fights, burning buildings, getting shot at. And because of what they do, if something happens to Riley, he wouldn’t forgive himself. Ever.

It was late morning. Mac was watching TV with his coffee next to him. He felt useless for not helping to find Nikki. But there is nothing he can do. He doesn’t know how to use computers. Riley’s been trying to teach him the basic stuff, but the basic stuff are useless in this line of work. He hears the front door open. It’s not Riley cause she always knocks. Bozer, Leanna and Matty were at DXS. Jack comes out of the corner and leans on the wall glancing at Mac.

“You okay, hoss?” Mac takes a sip of his coffee.

“Never better.” Mac answers sarcastically. Jack sighs and goes to sit next to Mac. They stayed silent for a while until Jack spoke.

“Have I ever tell you about me and Billy in the army?” Jack asks. Mac shakes his head while glancing at the TV. “Well, he was being a chicken. That is a no-go in the army. We had this thing weekly where two go in a boxing ring and have a fight. Billy got knocked out in 10 seconds. So one day I caught him being furious for some reason, he was ready to fight someone. So I said to him “Billy, if you’re gonna raise your fist to another man, you better be prepared to use it.” You know what he did?” Jack asks glancing at Mac who is still glancing at the TV. “Son of a bitch used ‘em. Punched me right between the eyes. Almost broke my honker. Friend of mine said he’d never seen so much blood. And his wife worked at the hospital. I got my revenge. You know what I did?” Jack asks.

“What?” Mac asks.

“I sle…” he couldn’t finish cause he hears Mac’s phone ring. Instead of Mac to check his text, Jack did. It was a message from Riley.

“Hey, Mac. Just wanted to know if you are feeling better. If you need anything, call me. From Riley.” Jack says with a smile. Mac also smiles when he hears that Riley sent the message. Mac takes the phone and replies to Riley “I don’t anything now, but if I do you’ll be the first to know. Thank you Riley.”

“How is she?” Mac asks Jack.

“She’s fine. Well…she misses you guys.” Jack says.

Mac sighs. “Come here tomorrow. And bring Riley.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I need to get back to normal.” Mac says. Then Jack’s phone rings.

“Well, looks like it’s not gonna be tomorrow. Matty needs us.”

“Let’s go. It might be about Nikki.” Mac says as he stands up.

_DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL SERVICES (DXS)_

Mac and Jack arrive in the war room, where they find Leanna, Bozer and Matty inside. “What’s up? Is it about Nikki?” Mac asks.

“No.” Matty replies. Mac just looks down.

“Do we have anything about her?” Jack asks glancing at Bozer and Leanna. They both shake their head. “Okay, so why are we here?”

“As of 2400 hours we’re shutting down DXS.” Matty says. “What Nikki did compromised our covert operation, so we’re folding up the tent and moving all think tank personal, tactical support and your team to a new location. So, same job, new name. And you get to pick it." Matty says with a smile.

“I like the Three Amigos.” Jack says trying to brighten up the mood in the room.

“That means three guys.” Leanna says.

“You should brush up on your Spanish.” Jack says glancing at Leanna. “What about…Thunderstallions?” Jack says. They all crack a smile. Mac goes to the table to pick up some paperclips, and he sees the Phoenix figure he made before helping Sarah. He told Matty to keep it, and she did. He picked it up and looked at it and then he says

“Phoenix.” They all look at him.

“Come on, man. We don’t want to name our new super crew after a bird.” Jack says

“Not just any bird, Jack. In ancient mythology, the Phoenix rose from the ashes stronger than it ever was. That’s us. And that’s why we are gonna get that virus back. Whatever it takes.” Mac says.

“I like it.” Leanna says.

“Me, too.” Matty says.

“Me, three.” Bozer adds. Leanna goes and stands next to Mac, so does Jack and Bozer.

“The Phoenix.” Leanna says.

“Foundation.” Mac adds. They all stand in front of Matty with their hands behind their backs. Matty smiles and says

“The Phoenix Foundation it is. Now…are you ready for your last mission in DXS?”

“Yes, ma’am.” They all say simultaneously. Matty takes the tablet and a picture of a bald man appears.

“For over a year, Interpol and the CIA have been trying to prove that Eric Wexler, head of the German branch of US defense contractor Wexler Aerospace Industries, has been selling weapons to America’s enemies. But neither agency have been able to find any proof. All that changed 24 hours ago, when Wexler’s executive assistant, Katarina Wagner, reached out to Interpol with proof of his illegal actions. Katarina spoke to Interpol agent Simon Abbott. Agent Abbott emailed Katarina a ticket for a night train going from Berlin to Frankfurt. He said he would meet her at the station and bring her in.” Matty says.

“And that’s good, right?” Jack asks.

“The problem is, Agent Abbott was found murdered 4 hours ago.” Matty replies.  
“Oh…”

“And that email was only 2 hours old.” Matty adds.

“So, whoever sent Katarina that ticket killed the real Abbott and is waiting for her in Frankfurt.” Jack says.

“She’s walking right into a trap.” Mac says

“And that’s why we have to act fast. Agent Scott is already on a plane to Frankfurt to track down whoever is planning to meet Katarina at the end of the line. Mac, Jack, Leanna, you three are gonna get on that train, find Katarina and keep her safe. Bozer, you’re gonna stay here and help the techs to find Nikki. Wheels up in 15.” Matty says.

_BERLIN, GERMANY_

Mac, Jack and Leanna make it in time on the train. There is a lot of crowd in there. Keeping Katarina safe on a train that goes to the destination without stopping, it should be easy. They just need to find her. They got the number of her room, and they are on their way now. They make it to her room. Jack knocks but no one answers. He opens the door which is unlocked for some reason.

“Katarina?” No answer. “Great, she’s not here.” Jack says

“Are we sure this is her car?” Mac asks Leanna.

“Yeah. I hacked her email and got the ticket the fake agent sent her.” Leanna replies.

“Well, she’s gotta be here somewhere on the train, right?” Jack asks as he goes to search for her.

“Hold on, hold on. The train has free Wi-Fi. Minimal security, unencrypted traffic, and…” she starts typing “easy access to every cellphone, computer and tablet on the network.” Leanna says as live videos of every person’s phone, computer or tablet that are on the train appear on her laptop.

“Whoa.” Jack says as he starts searching for Katarina on the screen.

Meanwhile, Mac is searching in the suite. He goes in the bathroom and notices something on the sink. Mac takes out his knife, and pulls out the tweezers. He picks up some brown hair from the sink.

“This is great, but I’m still not seeing her.” Jack says.

“Maybe because she’s trying to disappear.” Mac says as he shows them the hair. “She cut and dyed her hair.”

“Well, that would make sense, given who Wexler is, and the people he works with. She’s probably scared to death running for her life right now.” Jack says. Leanna takes a look at the hair.

“Looks about 6 inches. And blonde hair.” She does her magic on her tablet. “This is who we’re looking for.” Leanna says.

They start searching through the train. They past people who are asleep, snoring. People that smell like alcohol. Babies crying, and then they see a woman with short blonde curly hair. Katarina. Mac sits on the other side of the table while Jack and Leanna next to them.

“Hey, Katarina.” Mac says. Katarina looks up at him and jumps so she can run, but Mac stops her. “Don’t. If you run, I’m gonna have to chase you, and there’s only so much train.” Mac says. “So, maybe you can just hear my out first? My name is Angus MacGyver. I work with the US government. I know you’re scared. That’s why my friends and I are here to get you through it…to keep you safe.”

“I need to make a phone call.” Katarina says.

“To Agent Abbott?” Jack asks as Katarina glances at him. “Yeah…I don’t think he’s gonna answer.”

“I’m sorry, Simon Abbott is dead. Killed by whoever sent you that ticket.” Mac says as he points to the ticket Katarina is holding. Katarina slowly puts the ticket down. “This train is leading you right into a trap. That’s why we’re here. To protect you.”

“You work for Interpol?” Katarina asks.

“DXS.” Mac replies.

“Never heard of it.”

“That’s kind of the point.”

“You have ID? Show me proof.” Katarina says. Mac glances at Jack and Leanna.

“They’re…not exactly the kind of place that prints up business cards.” Mac says.

“How convenient.” Katarina mutters. “You don’t look like a secret agent.”

“What, exactly, does a secret agent suppose look like?” Mac asks

“Sharp suit. Shorter hair. A little more…worldly.” She replies.

“Well, it’s a…it’s a whole new world.” Mac says. “Look I know this sounds crazy, but there’s a man waiting for you when you step off this train in Frankfurt. And when you do, he’s going to kill you.” Mac sees that Katarina is scared. “And I really don’t want that to happen.”

Mac’s phone starts ringing. It’s from Matty. He picks up.

“Mac, we got a problem. Agent Scott found the guy but he got away. They know somethings up.” Matty says. Mac hangs up and bites his lip in frustration. Katarina notices that.

“What is it?” Katarina asks.

“The op’s been blown.” Mac replies.

“What does that mean?” Katarina asks.

“It means trouble.” Jack replies.

“We need to go to your suite.” Mac says

“For what?”

“Just being cautious.” He replies.

“Hey, Mac, I thought you said this train was nonstop.” Leanna says looking at her tablet.

“I did. Why?” Mac asks.

“Because eight people just boarded. From the roof.” She replies. They hear a helicopter outside and loud thuds.

“Seriously?” Jack says with a quiet voice.

“Looks like they’re splitting up to search.” Leanna says. Jack takes out his gun and reloads it quietly.

“We got to go.” Jack says. Katarina sees the gun and her heart stops.

“If you want to live, you need to come with us.” Mac says. Katarina glances at him. She doesn’t say anything, just nods.

They make it to her suite with no problems. Katarina goes inside and glances at Mac. “Now, lock the door and stay here until we come back.”

“You are leaving me alone?” Katarina asks with a shaky voice.

“We’ll be back, I promise.” Mac says. He really is trying to talk with a nice voice, but the situation with Nikki is still in his head, and it’s making him furious everytime he thinks about it. “Now, lock the door.” Katarina is kind of scared of Mac, and he hates it. He doesn’t want for her to see him like an angry person, but that’s what he is right now. Katarina closes the door. They start walking towards the bad guys.

Jack realized that Mac is still furious about Nikki. His voice says it all. _‘If one of those bad guys gets in a fight with Mac, I’ll pray for them.’_ Jack says to himself. They walk past an open suite and Mac stops them. He goes inside the suite where a man is snoring like crazy. He sees an electric razor in the bathroom. He goes in, takes the razor and comes out. Jack closes the door carefully so he doesn’t wake up the passenger.

“What are you doing?” Leanna whispers. Mac doesn’t answer. Instead, he takes out his knife and starts taking the electric razor into pieces. When he finishes, he presses the on button and they can see that he turned it into a Taser. Mac goes to Katarina’s suite and knocks on the door.

“It’s me.” He says. Katarina slowly opens the door.

“Is it safe now?” Katarina asks.

“Not quite. I came here to give you this.” Mac replies.

“You want me to shave them?” Katarina asks. Mac can’t hold back a chuckle.

“No.” he says. He pushes the on button and there are electric cracks.

“You turned it into a Taser.” Katarina says.

“Yeah. Well, I would have made it portable, but I didn’t have a lighter. Katarina takes the Taser.

“Thank you.” She says.

“Yeah. You’re welcome.” Mac says. “Now, close the door.” Katarina does that. Leanna turns the tablet to show something at Jack. Jack sighs and glances at Mac.

“So you want the bad news or even worse news?” Jack asks.

“Um, neither?” Mac says as he glances at the tablet.

“They’re splitting up to cover more ground.” Leanna says. Mac sighs. But then it hits him.

“They know she has protection, but they don’t know what we look like. Safest place to be is out in the open, blending in with the passengers, but still keeping an eye on Katarina.” Mac says. Jack hums in agreement. Then they hear footsteps from up top. “They’re heading towards her suite.” Mac says.

“Let’s go say hi.” Jack says with a grin.

“Leanna, stay here. Watch our backs. You’re our eyes and ears now. If one of the guys come here, you know what to do.” Mac says as he goes with Jack to search. They hear loud bangs around the corner. _‘That’s gotta be them.’_ Jack thought. Jack puts his arm around Mac’s shoulders and starts wobbling.

“Hey, that chick in the dining car…digs you, man.” Jack says acting like he’s drunk. Mac sees what he’s doing and goes with it.

“You’re wasted.” Mac says while laughing. They approach two guys who are banging on the doors.

“Hey fellas,” Jack says and they glances at them. “Hot chicks in the dining car.” Then he starts holding his stomach and gags. “I’m gonna…I’m gonna puke.” He says as he gets past the bad guys. He then turns around and throws a right hook on one of them. The other guy attacks him, and when Mac tried to help, the big man caught him and threw him through the door into a suite. The bad guy closes the door. _‘Oh, you should not have done that.’_ Jack says to himself about the big guy.

Mac stands up and punches the guy in a couple of spots. But this guy is big, strong. He puts his hands on Mac’s shirt and lifts him up, slamming him into a wall. Mac head butts the guy and sees some kind of a spray. He pops the spray with his knife aiming the gas that comes out at the guy’s eyes. He screams in pain but punches Mac. Mac falls down and takes a kick in the chest.

Leanna is just sitting there, waiting for something fun to happen. She glances back and sees a tall guy searching the crowd. Not at all suspicious. Leanna waits so she can know for sure he is one of the bad guys. He starts knocking on the door of the room Katarina is in, and that’s all Leanna needed. She stands up and hits the guy in the head. That did nothing. The guy turned around and hit Leanna hard. She fell and had a gun pointed at her. But then she hears electrical cracks. The guy falls down and she sees Katarina with the Taser in her hands. Leanna got up and Katarina’s face changed from joy to horror. Leanna glances back to see another guy approaching them. He has blood on his nose, which means he fought with Jack and Mac. Leanna prepared to fight, she sees Jack running behind the guy. The guy turns around, and Jack head butts him, knocking him out. Jack sees a passenger staring at him with fear.

“Sorry, he was in my seat.” Jack says. “What happened?” Jack asks Leanna. Leanna nods to the guy laying on the ground unconscious. “Nice job, girls.” Jack says.

“Where’s MacGyver?” Katarina asks.

MacGyver was having a hard time. It was nearly impossible to knock this big guy out. Mac takes a hard punch in his left cheek and then hears a gun click. He takes out his knife and pulls out a toothpick. He jams it into the gun. The guy is pressing the trigger but the gun doesn’t shoot. He looks at the gun and that is Mac’s chance. He gets up. There is some kind of a pole on the top wall. He jumps and holds on to it, pushes the guy with his legs, and the guy falls out of the window. Mac wipes some blood from his mouth and gets out of the room. He goes to Katarina’s suite to find Jack, Leanna and her outside.

“Whoa, you okay?” Jack asks.

“You should see the other guy.” Mac replies with some anger in his voice. His phone starts ringing. It’s Matty.

“Hello.”

“Mac, how’s Katarina?” Matty asks.

“Wishing she took a plane.”

“You’ve got two hours to Frankfurt. Can you lay low that long?”

“Leanna’s tracking the rest of our party crashers via their cell phones, so…if we can do that…yeah. We can probably stay one step ahead.” Mac replies.

“Okay. Call me when you get there.” Matty says and hangs up.

They decided that they are gonna escape from the train. They split into two. Jack and Leanna were in front of them checking the cars, before confirming to Mac and Katarina that it’s clear. The bad guys turned off their phones, so they can’t track them. But Jack and Leanna have training, so they’ll know if they see one of them. Leanna tells Jack to turn off their comms for a moment. Jack does that.

“Mac isn’t improving, is he?” Leanna says. Jack shakes his head. Poor guy, losing his best friend because of a girl who was playing on their side, and finding out that she was undercover for The Organization.

“It’s gonna take some time. This really hit him hard.” Jack says.

“Reese was a good man. He didn’t deserve to die. And finding out he’s dead because of Nikki…” Leanna says and shakes her head.

“Yeah.” Jack sighs. He turns on his comms back. “Okay Mac, this car is clear.” Jack says. He and Leanna walk in the next car, while Mac and Katarina follow.

“So, have you done this a lot?” Katarina asks.

“Uh, what, escape a moving train?” Mac asks. “No, this is…this is my first time.” Katarina glances at him with fear. “Don’t worry. I have a plan. I’m gonna use the train door to make a sled to lower on to the tracks."

“Well, that sounds insanely dangerous.” Katarina says.

“Well, mostly because it is, but it’s safer than staying on a train with a bunch of men who are trying to kill you.” Mac says. They stop and Katarina glances at Mac. She is shaking.

“Three days ago my biggest fear was Wexler’s latte getting cold before he got to work. How did I get here?” Katarina asks with a shaky voice.

“By being a good person. The kind that would do the right thing no matter how dangerous it is.” Mac replies.

“When I started working at Wexler Aerospace, I thought I found the dream job with the perfect boss. Wexler was kind and generous. He made me feel like I was helping him build something good.” Katarina says.

“Wexler is a bad man who’s great at keeping secrets. There’s no way you could’ve known what he was up to.” Mac says.

“I answered his calls, set his meetings, booked his travel. I knew every inch of that man’s life. I should’ve known something wasn’t right.” Katarina says. Mac puts his hand on her upper arm.

“None of this is on you. You gotta let yourself off the hook.” Mac says glancing at Katarina. He only sees horror in her brown eyes. “And…I want to say I’m sorry…for acting mean. It’s just…I lost a friend. Best friend.” Mac says. Katarina can see that it hurts him very bad.

“I’m sorry.” She says. Mac nods and looks down.

Jack and Leanna haven’t found anyone so far. But when they get to the next car, Jack sees two guys approaching.

“Sit down. Sit down.” He whispers. Leanna does that and Jack sits next to her. Leanna sees the bad guys.

“Mac, you’ve got company. Two guys.” Leanna says.

“Okay, thanks for the heads up.” Mac says. He opens the door to a closet and goes inside with Katarina. There is not a lot of space here so, they are so close, barely touching. The train shakes and Katarina stumbles onto him. They glance at each other. _‘This is weird.’_ Mac says to himself. They hear footsteps passing by. When they are gone Mac opens the door and goes out. Katarina is in front of Mac. When she glances back at him and sees a man raising his hand behind Mac.

“Watch out!” she shouts. Mac isn’t quick enough. He takes a hit in the back and he stumbles on the ground. He hears Katarina screaming. When he glances up, he sees that she is trying to get away, but the bad guy is holding her hand. Mac gets up and takes off his belt. He uses it and hits the guy in the face. The guy falls down and Mac takes Katarina’s hand. They start running through the car. Mac sees a fork on somebody’s plate and takes it. They go through the car door and Mac jams the fork in it. The guy chasing them can’t open it now. They meet up with Jack and Leanna and they run towards the back of the train.

Jack glances back and sees the bad guy coming for them. The fork must have fallen off. Jack tells them to go. He turns around, jumps onto a seat, and launches him at the bad guy, throwing a right fist midair into the guy’s face, knocking him out.

They arrive at the back of the train. Mac opens the train door, takes out his knife and starts undoing the screws. But then he feels a sharp pain in his ribs. _‘That’s a crack.’_ But it doesn’t stop him. The guy takes out a knife. He hears Leanna next to him.

“All yours Mac.” Mac glances at her and makes an evil grin. Leanna can see the fire in his eyes. _‘Like a Phoenix.’_ She says to herself. Mac attacks. He dodges a couple of swings and hits the guy in the ribs. He takes a magazine which was on the floor and defends himself. Mac sees a couple of small explosives that all trains have. He pushes the guy backwards, which he stumbles on the ground. Mac grabs a small explosive and ties it on the magazine. The guy gets up, and Mac hits him in the stomach with the explosive. The guy falls out of the train.

Jack comes back with a big bump _on_ his forehead. Diane’s not gonna like that. “What the hell happened in here?” Jack asks.

“Unexpected visitor.” Leanna replies.

“Okay, well. That’s two more down, which leaves only three now right?” Jack asks. There is a voice coming from somewhere. Jack glances at the floor to see a radio. It must have fallen out from the guy.

“Carter? Carter? Wo bist du?” Jack picks up the radio.

“Sorry, but Carter’s a little busy being dead right now. Over.” Jack says.

“And you will be joining him, whoever you are.” The man says.

“I’m the guy that’s so gonna kill you man.” Jack says. Then there is a loud boom and the train shakes. Mac almost falls out, but he hangs tight. Mac glances out of the train.

“What happened?” Jack asks.

“We’re accelerating…a lot.” Mac shouts. They hear a helicopter above them, and see the bad guys boarding.

“Where are they going?” Leanna asks. The helicopter flies away from the train.

“Well…look on the bright side, Katarina…now you ain’t gotta worry about Wexler’s men killing you anymore.” Jack says with a smile glancing at Katarina.

“Yeah, cause this train’s gonna crash and It’s gonna kill everyone onboard including us.” Mac says with anger.

They started running to get to the pilot. While they were running through cars, they can hear people screaming, babies crying, cursing, everyone was confused. They didn’t know why they were speeding up. When they get to the front of the train where the pilot is, they see him on the ground with blood on his head.

“Ah, that’s no Bueno.” Jack says.

“Looks like they sabotages the pneumatic air brakes and remove the train’s computer.” Mac says pointing to some wires and a hole where the computer must have been.

“Which means what?” Jack asks.

“Which means they removed all onboard fail safes to stop the train.” Mac replies.

“Well, Leanna, can you hack what’s left of the computer and tell it…” Jack says.

“What’s left is a hole, Jack. You can’t hack a hole.” Leanna interrupted with a raised voice.

“Okay, alright, no need for the attitude, I get it. Mac, can you fix the hole?” Jack asks. He really doesn’t want to die in a speeding train.

“Fix the hole?” Mac asks sarcastically.

“Yeah!” Jack says. Mac is getting angrier by the second.

“Okay, we were two hours from Frankfurt when our speed increased…” Leanna says but Jack interrupted her.

“Are you seriously about to tell me this boils down to one of those “two trains leave the station” word problems?” Jack asks. “I was always terrible at those.”

“30 minutes!” Mac shouts. “That’s how much time we have until this train plows into the station!” Mac runs his hands through his hair. “I actually think I might have a solution for this, but it’s…” he trails of and puts his hand on his hips “it’s-it’s kinda risky.”

“What kind of risky?” Jack asks trying his best to remain calm.

“The “it might derail the whole thing instantly killing everyone on board” kind.” Mac says.

“Okay, good. We’ll call that plan A and not do that. What’s plan B?” Jack asks.

“Plan B is to minimize casualties and get everyone off this thing, but…” he takes the phone that’s connected to the speakers in the train and glances at Katarina “…I’m gonna need your help.” Mac says as he hands her the phone.

The passengers are looking out the window, shouting, but they hear a woman’s voice through the speakers. And that woman is Katarina.

“Attention, passengers. This is an emergency. I need everyone to take their cell phones and proceed to the back of the train.” She says and then she says the same thing in German. The passengers don’t waste time. They knew something was wrong and they all started going to the back. Jack and Leanna were waking up passengers that were in their suites.

“Okay, rise and shine, people!” Jack shouts as he pounds on the door. “Up! Up! Up! Move! Move! Move!”

“Jack, she said calmly.” Leanna says with anger.

“Yeah, there’s no time for calm. There’s hundreds of people onboard and the clock is ticking.” Jack says as he continues knocking on the doors. People start coming out. Jack and Leanna are telling them to grab their phones. Then a guy with no pants comes out.

“Whoa, whoa. Hold up there, Donald Duck. Put some pants on, man.” Jack says. The man is looking at him with confusion. Jack glances at Leanna. “Uh, how do you say, uh, “Put your pants on” in German.” Leanna shrugs. “ _Sprechen sie_ pants, dude.” Jack says and the man does nothing. Jack goes inside his suite and grabs his pants and gives them to him. “Alright, let’s go, let’s go, people!” Jack shouts.

All the passengers are in the back. Jack takes out his phone and calls Matty. “Matty, slight wrinkle. Wexler’s men have sabotaged the train and split, so now we’re on a runaway that’s gonna crash into Frankfurt in less than 20 minutes. Mac’s getting all the passengers off the train. You need to call Scott and tell him to clear the station.” Jack says.

“Copy. I’ll call him. Jack, our witness…is she okay?” Matty says.

“Katarina? She’s in excellent hands.” Jack replies.

“Is this gonna work?” Katarina asks Mac.

“Sure as hell hope so.” Mac replies.

“I can’t believe Eric would let this many people die just to keep me from testifying. This is all because of me.” Katarina says. Before Mac could say something, Jack spoke.

“Okay, Mac, we’re good to go. All 132 passengers are in the last three cars.” Mac opens the car door and goes outside. He takes the lever that’s supposed to decouple the cars, but Its’ not working.

“Uh-oh, you got that look on your face, when you’re about to say…” Jack says.

“Something’s wrong!” Mac interrupted.

“Yeah, like what?!” Jack asks.

“The decoupling lever on the same pneumatic system as the brakes. When Wexler’s men destroyed them, they must’ve also destroyed the ability to decouple the cars.” Mac muttered.

“So?” Jack asks.

“So, we’re not gonna be doing this the easy way.” Mac replies.

“But, there is a hard way, right?” Leanna asks. Mac doesn’t answer. Instead, he jumps on the other car and goes inside. He takes a pipe that’s on the wall, he takes the armrests of the chairs off, which they have magnesium underneath them. Mac needs the magnesium, he also needs rust, which he can find anywhere. He finds some rust, magnesium, a pipe and now all he needs is one of the flares he saw earlier where he found the small explosives. He pours the magnesium and rust into the pipe and goes back to the others.

“So this is the hard way?” Jack says.

“And the dangerous way.” Mac replies. He opens the flare and lights up the pipe. He lowers the pipe which is a thermal lance now, and the fire starts cutting through the metal that’s holding the cars together. 75% in and the thing stops.

“What happened?” Jack asks.

“Ran out of fuel.” Mac muttered. “And it didn’t cut all the way through. We’re gonna have to go back to plan C.”

“Plan C? Plan C went out the window eight operatives and a helicopter ago. We’re like on plan F right now, dude.” Jack says.

Mac looks down and has an idea that he doesn’t know if it will work. He puts the pipe in the hole he made and starts pulling, hoping it would break. But it doesn’t. He jumps over to the other car and starts doing the same. And It’s kind of working. But barely. Jack sees that he’s struggling so he jumps to the other car to help him.

“What are you doing? Get back there.” Mac says.

“No! You need some help.” Jack says as he kneels down next to him reaching for the pipe.

“I can do it. Go! Go!” Mac shouts.

“No! No! Move over. I’m not going anywhere, let’s go!” Jack shouts as he grabs the pipe.

“Alright, the second it snaps, we’ll have about two seconds to make it before we hit the tracks at 100 miles per hour!” Mac shouts.

“Woo! That sounds awesome!” Jack shouts sarcastically. “Let’s do this!” They both start pushing the pipe towards them. They are giving it everything. They hear creaking and then a snap. The cars decouple, but Mac and Jack didn’t have enough time to jump.

“Oh, boy. Now what?” Jack asks.

“Now we go back to plan A.” Mac replies.

“Wait, I thought you said plan A could kill everybody onboard.” Jack says.

“Yeah, I did. Except there’s only two people onboard now.” Mac says.

“Oh…great.” Mac and Jack walk in the car and run to the front of the train. They arrive at the front, and see the city is not too far. “You know, I’ve never been to Frankfurt.” Jack says.

“Guess, this isn’t the way you wanted to visit.” Mac says as he glances at the panel on the floor. “Jack, help me.” Jack helps him open the panel, and it’s not a great sight.

“Ah, I’m guessing plan A involves you climbing down there.” Jack says.

“Or you could do it. I can walk you through what I was thinking.” Mac says as he hands over the knife to Jack. Jack looks at him for a bit, and he starts climbing down, but Mac stopped him. “Don’t be stupid. I’m going.”

“Okay, just, don’t die.” Jack says. Mac doesn’t answer and climbs down. Jack goes to the seats, and sits down. He prays for this to end well. Then he hears a loud screeching. The trains slows down fast, and that made Jack slam his head in the seat in front of him. Then the train stops right in front of the station, which is empty. Scott did good. He gets out of his seats and runs to the engine room. But the train goes backwards a bit, and Jack falls to the ground. _‘Come on!’_

He goes to the engine room. “Mac! Mac!” No answer. _‘Oh, don’t you dare be dead.’_ Then he hears grunts and groans. Mac is slowly coming out. Jack sighs in relief when he sees him moving.

“Welcome to Frankfurt.” Mac says and they both start laughing. Mac comes out with Jack’s help. “Oh, I think my ears are bleeding.” Mac also had small little burns on his face.

“Nice burns you got there.” Jack says.

“Yeah, well…the sparks were no help.” Mac says.

_30 MINUTES LATER, FRANKFURT STATION_

Wexler is in custody. Leanna and Katarina arrive at the station safely. The ambulance checked Mac’s ribs to see if they were gonna be a problem. But the doctor says it’s all fine. Just to avoid working out for a week. Katarina comes over and hugs the three of them.

“Thank you all. For keeping your promise.” Katarina says.

“You did the hard part, Katarina. Deciding to speak up and tell the truth about Wexler.” Mac says.

“I couldn’t stay quiet. I couldn’t live with feeling responsible. But thanks to you, I know I’m not.” She says glancing at all three of them.

“But you are responsible for putting him in jail.” Jack says.

“We did that, together.” She says with a grin. “Again, thank you.” She says as she turns around and goes to the Interpol agents waiting for her.

“You guys wanna try the German wurst and beer?” Jack asks.

“Yes.” Mac and Leanna say simultaneously.

“Diane’s not gonna like that.” Mac says pointing to the bump on Jack’s forehead. “What cover are you gonna use?” _‘Crap.’_ Nobody knows that Jack told Diane about DXS…well, The Phoenix Foundation now.

“Meh, I’ll think of something. Now, let’s go eat.” Jack says.

_DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL SERVICES (DXS) STILL_

They entered the war room where they were greeted by a happy Matty. “Well done you three.”

“All in the day’s work.” Jack says.

“Nice bump, Jack.” Matty says.

“I’m so happy I have it.” Jack says sarcastically.

“Any news about Nikki?” Mac asks. Matty shakes her head.

“Nothing yet. Since we’re shutting down DXS, and this was your last mission for DXS, you are gonna have a break until we open The Phoenix Foundation.” Matty says.

“Woo hoo!!” Jack shouts. “Finally, no more running, getting shot at, runaway trains.”

“We’re still gonna keep searching for Nikki, but you all may go home and do whatever you want. Just stay fit. Don’t get fat. You got it, Jack?” Matty asks.

“Why me?” Jack asks and they all start laughing.

_DIANE’S APARTMENT_

Jack needs to lie down. First take a shower. He brought some clothes from Phoenix, and he’s gonna take a shower at Diane’s. When he enters the apartment, he hears a gasp. When he turns around, he sees Diane staring at him with her hand on her mouth.

“What is it?” Jack asks. Diane doesn’t say anything. She just points to her forehead. And Jack knows now. The damn bump. “Oh…don’t ask.” Diane gets some ice and hands to Jack. He puts the ice on the bump. “Where’s Ri?”

“To the store. She wanted to make chocolate cake, so she went to buy ingredients. What are you gonna tell her when she sees that bump?” Diane asks. Jack shrugs.

“Hit myself in the door?” Jack says with a smile. “Can I take a shower?” Diane nods and gives him a kiss.

Riley arrives home after Jack came out of the shower. She saw that he was holding a bag of ice on his forehead. “What happened?” Riley says sounding worried.

“It’s nothing, darling. I just hit myself in a door at work.” Jack says. Riley’s trying her best not to laugh, after imagining the moment. “Go on, get it all out.” Jack says and Riley starts laughing. After she’s done she went over and hugged Jack.

“I’m sorry.” She says as she kisses him on the cheek. Jack kisses her forehead and doesn’t let go of her. “Um…I need to make a cake. Can you let me go?” Riley asks.

“Nah.” Jack says. He lets her go after a minute hugging her.

_MAC’S HOUSE_

Mac was treating his slight burns with some cream. He came back from his daily evening walk and took a shower. He got dressed and grabbed a beer. They didn’t get together at Mac’s house today after a successful mission. They needed to relax. Stopping a train that ran 100+ miles per hour is no joke. When Mac sat down, he felt his ribs hurt a little bit. But nothing to serious. As soon as he sat down, he heard knocking. Nobody knocks except Riley. So he bolted to the front door. He opened, and indeed it was Riley. With her hands behind her back for some reason.

“Hey.”

“Hey, Riley.” He moved over so she can come in. She noticed the slight burns on his face.

“What happened to you?” she asks.

“Experiment gone wrong.” He replied.

“Have you been treating them well?” She asks. He loves how she cares about him.

“Yeah, I have this cream.” He replies.

“Jack came home with a bump. He said he hit himself in a door.” She says trying her best not to laugh.

“Really?” Mac says laughing. He just imagined Jack walking face first into a door.

“Yeah. And um…” she shows a bag “I brought you some chocolate cake which I made. Well…I didn’t make it by myself, my mom helped me. I’m a terrible cook.” She says.

“Are you…” Mac trailed off and glances at her with a big smile. “Guess what.” He says.

“Chocolate cake is your favorite?” Riley asks.

“Yes!” he says with a grin. He pulled her into a big tight hug. “Thank you, Riley. But I’m gonna have to eat a small amount because I’m trying to stay in shape. Which means you’re gonna join me and you are gonna eat the rest of the cake.” He says. Riley’s smile grew bigger.

“Okay.” She says.

They sat by the fire place, eating the cake. Mac told her about the experiment, even though there was no experiment, there was a huge train going fast like a NASCAR. And Riley told him what she was up to for a week, where they didn’t see each other.

“So, are you feeling better?” she asks,

“Yes. It sucked being sick. But it happens to everyone.” Mac says.

“I once had the flu, I couldn’t move. I could barely stand. It was horrible.” She says and Mac winces. Then they kept looking at the fire. “This reminds me of my camping trips I had with my mom. I was scared to sleep in my own tent alone, so I went to my mom’s every night."

Mac chuckled. “I never had a chance to go camping with my mom. She…she died when I was 5. From cancer.” Mac says.

“I’m sorry.” Riley says with a quiet voice. Mac smiles at her.

“I once went on a camping trip with my dad. He thought me a lot of things about nature. But most of the times I went camping with my grandad. When my father left and didn’t come back…I was living with my grandpa.” Mac says. “He said he was going on a business trip, but….yeah.” Mac sighs. Then Riley spoke.

“My dad…was an alcoholic.” Mac knew about Riley’s dad. Jack told him everything when they were in Malaysia. But he still listened to her. “Every night he came home wasted, without money. He was gambling everyday. And…” her voice is shaky now “when he came home once he started hitting my mom. Then me. There was blood…coming out of my mom’s nose. I had a big cut on my forehead,” she says pointing to a scar on her forehead, “and…” she stopped as tears started to fall. All the memories were coming back. Mac went and hugged her tight. She buried her face in his shoulder and started sobbing. Mac stroked her hair and waited until she stopped. He didn’t mind his shirt getting watery.

Riley felt safe in Mac’s hands. He was warm, it was comfortable, and she let the tears out. When Riley pulled back, she looked up at Mac. When Mac saw those red watery brown eyes, he couldn’t hold back a tear. A tear flowed down his cheek. They were so close. He wiped a tear of her cheek, and moved her hair away from her eyes. Mac gave her a small smile. Riley reached out and brushed her finger on a small burn on Mac’s cheek. He didn’t even flinch. Her touch was so soft. He took her hand and squeezed it tightly. She put her head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. And they didn’t even move. At all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'll post chapter 6 tomorrow. :D


	6. Wrench

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 6. :D If you enjoy it drop a kudos and a comment

_The Phoenix Foundation opened 2 days ago. We had a party, food, champagne, wine, we even brought Riley and Diane to see the “think tank”. Now we were doing our first mission. Me, Jack and Leanna were sent to Eastern Europe. But the mission went sideways. So we had to bolt. And that didn’t work at all._

_SOMEWHERE IN EASTERN EUROPE, HALF MILE FROM EXFIL POINT_

Jack was driving, fast as they were getting chased by not so friendly people. Jack was looking in the rear view mirror to see if they were getting chased still. He wasn’t paying attention to the road. There was a hole in front of them, and they fall into it with the car. But that’s not the worst part. They hear dirt hitting the roof of the car. They couldn’t get out in time and now they were buried alive.

The three of them tried to open the doors, break the windows. But nothing was working because of the dirt around them. They were stuck, underground, with not a lot of oxygen.

“This is not good!” Jack says as he hits the door trying to open it. “I had a dream I was buried once.”

“How did it end?” Leanna asks.

“I died, that’s how it ended!” Jack replies.

“We’re not gonna die.” Mac says.

“Yeah, that’s what Jimmy Hoffa kept telling himself.” Jack says. Leanna glances at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“Who?” she asks. Jack looks at her in disbelief.

“Seriously?” he asks.

“Well, I’m sorry, I don’t know everyone of your hillbilly cousins, Jack.” Leanna says.

“Jimmy Hoffa was not a hillbilly cousin….never mind.” He says as he continues to kick the door.

“How much longer we got, Mac?” Leanna asks.

“About an hour, maybe more.” Mac replies.

“What?!” Leanna and Jack say simultaneously with fear. Both of them start kicking even faster now. Mac stops them.

“Hey! We need to conserve oxygen.” Mac says. “If we exert ourselves, we have about 15 minutes, maybe less.”

“Seriously?” Jack asks with a quiet shaky voice. They both stop and just stay still. “I choose the longer option.”

“Next time you say “I know how to get away from them”, let’s all take a vote for you to try and look in front of you on the road.” Leanna says.

“I just looked to see if they were still chasing us. And second of all, next time we’re fleeing some-some tin pot dictator, with his computer thingy that controls his air defense system, I’ll put our escape route to a quorum, alright?” Jack says.

“You’re not using the word “quorum” right.” Leanna says. It’s Jack so, no surprise.

“Help me out here, Mac.” Jack says.

“A quorum doesn’t mean a vote, Jack, it means you have the right amount of people present to vote.” Mac says.

“I stand by the spirit of my words. Anybody want to _quorum_ our escape?” Jack asks. Leanna exhales so she can calm down.

“No time. You two, get in the back.” Mac says. Leanna and Jack go to the back and Mac goes to the front.

“Hey, hey. Don’t let me die this way.” Jack says looking at Mac.

“I’m not.” He replies. He takes out the airbag from the car, he takes the gas inflator from the back. He does his magic, and goes in the back holding a wire. Jack and Leanna take a glance to see the airbag next to the window, with a headrest on it.

“Close your ears.” Mac says. They do that and there is a big explosion. The explosion breaking the glass, kicking the dirt, and they can get out. They crawl out and slide on the dirt coughing. They breathe some fresh air, and the wind hitting them is the best feeling ever. Jack starts laughing.

“Mac…I can kiss you right now, buddy.” Jack says.

“Just knowing you want to do it is enough, thanks.” He says.

“Can we just go home now, please?” Leanna asks.

“Absolutely.” Mac replies.

_MAC’S HOUSE_

Halloween. One of the most popular holidays in the US. Kids roaming the streets dressed up as monsters, vampires, ghosts. Coming to your door asking for candy. They all planned a Halloween night at Mac’s apartment. Jack came at Mac’s house in the morning, and helped him carve some pumpkins. Then, Mac sent him to buy some coffee and some food. Jack came back with the coffee and some food.

“Yeah, yeah!” he shouts as he enters the house. “Yeah, Happy Halloween.” Jack says as he takes a look at the carved pumpkins that are set on the table. “Hey, Mac. They were out of poppy seeds, so I got you onion.” He says as he puts down the coffee and the food. He picks up a string of some kind. And then behind him he hears,

“Slush molds.” Mac says. Jack gasps.

“Ay!” Jack chuckles. “Oh man, if I get a heart attack, you know what to do, right?” Jack asks.

“Probably not.” Mac replies.

“What is this stuff?” Jack asks as he looks at the string thingy in his hand.

“I already told you. They’re slush molds. Bozer prosthetic mask hobby. He came by yesterday and left this.” Mac says as he points to a mask that looks like George Washington.

“Wow, you know that’s pretty good.” Jack says. Bozer and Leanna enter the house.

“Yo, yo.” Bozer shouts. “Happy Halloween.”

“Boze, this is freaking good.” Jack says as he points to the mask.

“Thanks, Jack. Appreciate the props. But there is still room to improve.” Bozer says as he’s looking at the mask. “There babies are just for practice, alright? I’m getting ready for Penny’s Halloween party this Saturday.” Penny Parker. Old friend of Bozer’s. They met in high school. “You boys are coming, right?” Mac and Jack exchange glances. And they both nod. “Great. Jack, you’ll be going as President Taft.

“President Taft? Come on, man. He was fat. See myself more like, a Grant or Eisenhower type. You know, all ex-general style.” Jack says.

“Mac, you’re President Nixon.” Bozer says.

“Yeah, keep dreaming.” Mac says. “The thing that would suck the most, is for Matty to call us for work.”

“Shut up, don’t jinx it, man.” Bozer says.

“Is it cool if I bring Riley?” Jack asks Bozer.

“Hell yeah. I’m sure Penny wouldn’t mind.” Bozer says.

“Can I have my food now? Cause I’m starving.” Mac says as he picks up the bag with his food and goes on the balcony.

_DIANE’S APARTMENT_

Riley was prepping her room with some scary decorations. Scary posters, spiders, scary little ghosts, and some small pumpkins with evil faces. Riley loved Halloween. Even though she was scared from most things, she still loved it. As a kid, she didn’t go with friends to get candy from the neighbors, cause she had no friends. So, Jack and Diane bought her a lot of candy.

“Riley, are you done, honey?” Diane asks.

“Almost, mom.” Riley replies. She was setting up the last spider on the corner of the walls and…done. She went to the living room from where Diane called her.

“What are you going to be dressed as tonight?” Diane asks referring to the party at Mac’s house.

“I don’t know…I’m trying to think…what would Mac like.” Riley says. Diane just chuckles.

“Come here.” Diane says. Riley goes and sits next to her. “Tell me about Mac.”

“Um…he’s funny, handsome, cute…I am not afraid to talk to him about anything. He had the same problems at school as me. So, he understands me. And…” he shrugs “…I like him.” Riley says. Diane grins and Riley blushes. “Mom…” she says with a smile and pushes her playfully.

“I’m sure that… however you’re dressed, he will love it.” Diane says with a wink. Then her phone buzzed. A text from Jack. “Well…looks like the party is gonna be tomorrow. Work came up for them.” Diane says.

“At least that gives me more time to think.” Riley says.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

“I got a call from the FBI. Charlie Robinson asked for you. How do you know him?” Matty asks Mac.

“EOD’s a small world. We worked a couple of missions together. Spent two weeks in Kabul dismantling IEDs. 127, to be specific. It was a company record. Anyway…he’s one of the bomb techs I’ve ever worked with. Last I heard, he was doing bomb analytics for the FBI in Quantico.” Mac says.

“Still is. I get a call from the deputy director. Said Agent Robinson needs to see you. Only you.” Matty says.

“Is he okay?” Mac asks.

“FBI agents in New York found and disabled an explosive device in the parking garage near the UN. Agent Robinson was brought to Quantico to examine it. He took one look, call headquarters, requesting they find you.” Matty says. “I was told you’re the only other pair of eyes he trusts to look at this device.”

“Charlie’s one of the best. If he needs me, then it must be serious.” Mac says.

“Peace talks are taking place at the UN in 24 hours. If someone is planning to disrupt them with violence, it could set the talks back years. So you’re wheels up to New York in 30.” Matty says. Mac nods and leaves the room.

_FBI TERRORIST EXPLOSIVE DEVICE ANALYTICAL CENTER (TEDAC), NEW YORK_

“Good to see you, Charlie.” Mac says as he gives his old friend a hug.

“California’s treating you well, huh Mac? I figured you’d be tan and fat by now.” Charlie says with a smile. Mac chuckles.

“Nice to see you, Charlie. So…what do we got?” Mac asks. Mac puts on a bomb disposal suit and follows Charlie. Charlie shows him a bomb.

“They found it wedged against a support column in a parking garage a half block from the UN. First techs on scene followed a standard course of action, deployed a water cannon to disable it, X-rayed it, and when it came up clean, they brought it here. I was called in a few hours later.” Charlie says.

“It’s crude build, sloppy technique. Off the shelf components, electric detonator, cell phone trigger. This is nothing you haven’t seen before, Charlie. Why’d you call me?” Mac asks.

“The explosive compound is PETN. Pure PETN. Made from the heart medication itself.” Charlie says. Mac raises his eyebrows.

“That would take some serious technical skills to pull off.” Mac says. “Not a whole lot of people, who could do that.” Mac says as he glances at the bomb.

“I could think of only one.” Charlie says. Then it hits Mac. _‘No, it can’t be’_. Mac glances at Charlie.

“He doesn’t operate in the US.” Mac says.

“I know. And maybe I’m just jumping at shadows, but that’s why I needed you here for. So please, take a look, tell me I’m wrong.” Charlie says. He moves over so Mac can take a look at the bomb.

Mac takes his knife and cuts the tape that holds the cell phone on the bomb. He then carefully cuts the bag that the bomb is wrapped in. He is doing this so slow, because one wrong move and the building goes down. And then he sees,

“A secondary device.” They exchange glances. The secondary devices was wrapped in some kind of a net. “3D printed polymer detonator, invisible to x-rays.” Mac slowly cuts the net and opens the top of the device. He sees a timer counting down. _‘Crap!’._

“My God, Mac, it’s activated.” Charlie says.

“A Trojan Horse. Get everyone out of the building now!” Mac says. Charlie picks up his radio.

“This is Agent Robinson! Get everyone out of the building!” Charlie shouts. A bomb within a bomb. Mac takes off the top of his suit and puts it on top of the bomb. Mac takes the suit with the bomb and goes outside. He starts looking around for somewhere he can put the bomb so it can explode without any casualties.

He sees a cover that when you pull out you can go in the sewers. He puts the bomb on in with the suit and tell Charlie to help him with a dumpster. They take the dumpster and flip it on the bomb.

“Run!” Mac yells. They don’t get far enough. The explosion knocks them on the ground. They get up and see a lot of smoke.

“That would’ve killed every agent in the building.” Charlie says.

“That was the idea.” Mac says. “Tricked the FBI into bringing the bomb inside, get as many agents and experts around it as possible, and then you know what.”

“So, then I’m not crazy. You thinking what I’m thinking?” Charlie asks.

“Yeah.” Mac replies. “The Ghost is back.”

The police, ambulance, and the fire department arrived. The places got taped and people were examining the place. Mac just stared at the sight of the explosion, and was remembering one of the worst things that happened to him.

_GARDEZ, PAKITA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN_   
_5 YEARS AGO_

_Mac was getting examined by a doctor. He was near a very big explosion. He saw soldiers carry a body. He jumped and ran towards them, but he was stopped by two soldiers._

_“Let me through! He’s my CO!” Mac shouts. He glances at his CO. His head was burned._

_“He’s dead. I’m sorry. There’s nothing you can do.” The soldier said. Mac keeps glancing at his CO and a soldier appears in front of him._

_“It’s The Ghost, man.” The soldier said._

Some shouting brought back Mac to reality. He looks down and sees something on the ground and picks it up. He then goes inside and calls The Phoenix. Mac explained everything.

“The Ghost has never operated on American soil, Mac. Why would he target the UN?” Matty asks.

“The new peace treaty means dozens of countries laying down arms. It means less jobs for a bomb maker who travels the world selling his expertise to anyone who will pay. The Ghost doesn’t have a cause or an ideology. He builds bombs for money.” Mac says.

“None of our techs have found any concrete evidence to support your theory, Mac, that the UN bomb was his. I mean, no DNA, no fingerprints, and even if there were, there’s nothing to compare it to. The Ghost has never been printed or photographed.” Matty says.

“I chased this guy through Afghanistan. I watched him kill hundreds of people. We never came close to the man, but I spent a lot of time with his bombs. I became very familiar with his style: the use of pure PETN, the mixing of techniques.” Mac sighs. “Look, we don’t have time to debate this. Matty, he’s here. I know it’s him, and I’m going to find him.” Mac says.

“Hey, hey. If you’re gonna do something stupid, you wait for me. We’ll do it together, alright?” Jack says. They see Charlie approaching Mac.

“Mac. You’re gonna want to see this.” Charlie says.

Mac follows Charlie back to the lab. “Analysis confirm that this glass you found is from a camera.” Charlie says.

“That means he was watching?” Mac asks. Charlie nods.

“And look what else the techs recovered from the dumpster.” Charlie says and points to the magnifying glass. Mac takes a look.

“Pieces of a SIM car. It was in the bomb. He was streaming a video from the camera. We can use this to trace the signal to his location.” Mac says.

“Mac, all we recovered were fragments. We don’t even have a full SIM car ID number.” Charlie says.

“Doesn’t matter. Have photos of these sent to Leanna Martin. She should be on her way from LA with Jack Dalton.” Mac says.

“Mac, there’s no way anyone could peace all this…” Charlie says.

“It’s worth a try.” Mac interrupted. Charlie sighs and nods.

_ON THE ROAD_

Jack and Leanna arrived in NYC and picked up Mac. Leanna tried to trace the signal and she did it, but barely. It was a tough one to trace. Guess Nikki didn’t realize she thought Leanna too much.

“This wasn’t an easy one to trace. Take the next right.” Leanna says and Jack does that. Jack glances at Mac who is quiet the whole trip. _‘Something happened in Afghanistan.’_ Jack said to himself.

“I heard stories about The Ghost.” Jack says. “Seems like every soldier I talked to had a different take on it. One guy said that he blew his jaw off building a bomb that he can’t even talk anymore.”

“Yeah, I heard that one, too.” Mac says. “I also heard he, uh, burned his vocal chords out, breathing in fumes over the years.”

“Well, whatever’s true, guy sounds like a monster.” Jack says. Mac sighs.

“Yeah, well…that’s the one thing all stories got right.” Mac says.

“What did that son of a bitch do to you?” Jack asks.

“Uh…” Mac shakes his head. “I’m gonna hold on that one for now.” Mac says.

“Just so you know, we’re here for you, pal.” Jack says glancing at Mac. Mac smiles and nods. Leanna’s laptop starts beeping.

“Jack, pull over, right here.” Leanna says. Jack stops the car and takes out his gun.

“You ready for this?” Jack asks Mac.

“More than ready.” Mac says as he gets out of the car.

_QUEENS, NEW YORK_

They enter the building and slowly make their way to the floor where the signal is coming from. Jack with his gun in his hands, and Leanna with her laptop.

“Signal’s coming from that door on the right.” Leanna says. She closes her laptop and takes out her gun. Jack gets ready to kick the door down but Mac stops him.

“He’s a bomb maker…trip wires.” Mac whispers. Jack nods. Mac takes out the chewing gum and puts one in his mouth. He takes out his knife and starts dismantling his phone. He takes out the camera. He takes out the chewing gum and sticks it on the knife. He puts the camera on the chewing gum and kneels down. Through the gap, he can see that there are no trip wires. And he sees a man sitting on a chair.

“He’s in there.” Mac whispers.

“Alright, move back, move back.” Jack whispers. Mac does that and Jack kicks the door. But it doesn’t fall.

“Reinforced door. Come on, let’s both.” Mac says. He lines up next to Jack and they both kick the door down. The guy is gone. They start searching the apartment but there is nobody there.

“Clear.” Jack shouts. Mac looks at the window that is open. He glances outside but there is nobody.

“He’s gone.” Mac mutters. Leanna glances at the TV. So does Jack.

“If he was trying to disrupt these peace talks, he failed miserably, I’ll tell you that much.” Jack says. Then Jack glances at a laptop on the table the guy was using. He sees Mac on the video. “Mac, look at this. Looks like he’s been watching you ever since you got to New York.”

Mac approaches Jack and Leanna and he smells something. “That smell.”

“What smell?” Leanna says. Mac takes out his knife and takes off the keyboard of the laptop. “Mac there’s smoke coming out of the keyboard.”

“That’s normal, right, when you open of those things?” Jack asks. Mac takes off the keyboard.

“Plastic explosives.” Mac mutters.

“Alright, let’s go.” Jack says as he starts walking towards the door. But nobody moves. “You hear me?” Leanna opens the laptop.

“His laptop could be the key to catch him. If I plug this in, will it blow?” Leanna asks Mac.

“No. It’s not connected to the CPU.” Mac says. Leanna plugs it in and starts downloading files. “But, Leanna, this thing is not rigged just to blow up the laptop, it’s rigged to blow up the whole room.”

“Let’s get out of here.” Jack says with anger.

“Then I guess you better stop it from doing that.” Leanna says.

“I don’t want to die in Queens. Please, don’t let me die in Queens, man.” Jack says as he walks out of the room. Mac takes the two laptops and runs outside. The laptop is smoking even more now. Mac puts them down on the hood of their car. “How long until it blows up?” Jack asks.

“Judging by the smoke, I’d say about a minute, tops.” Mac replies. He sees a garbage truck coming towards them. “Jack, stop that truck.” Mac says. Jack goes to the middle of the road, in front of the truck.

“Hey, buddy, I need you to stop that stinky thing! Stop!” Jack shouts. The truck stops inches away from Jack. The driver comes out.

“You got a death wish, pal?” he asks.

“I have the right of way.” Jack replies.

Meanwhile Mac steals some fuel from the truck while the driver and Jack are arguing. When he has enough, he runs back to the laptop and pours the fuel on the plastic explosive. Then it becomes liquid, Mac finds the wires and pulls them out. And the laptop stops smoking.

“You did it.” Leanna says.

“Yeah.” Mac answers. He is out of breath. “To be completely honest, I wasn’t 100% sure that was even gonna work.” Jack comes back after arguing with the garbage man.

“Did you fix it?” Jack asks and Mac just nods. “Attaboy.”

They go back to the guy’s apartment so they can see what Leanna managed to download. “This is crazy. Let me be more specific….this dude is crazy. He has dozens of folders full of videos of his victims.”

“How many video files are there?” Mac asks.

“There’s gotta be hundreds. It goes back ten years. You think it’s some kind of video resume for potential employers?” Leanna asks.

“No, I think he’s just a sicko who gets off on watching people die.” Jack says.

“Either way, we should tell our analyst to watch them all. Any one of these could contain a clue that could help us…” he trails off because he thought of something Leanna said. “Wait a second, did you say ten years?” Mac asks. Leanna nods. “Can I get in there?” Leanna stands up and Mac sits down in front of the laptop. He scrolls down through the files until he sees a familiar date. He opens the file and a video comes out named “Alfred Pena”. Mac wipes his face with his hand. “Uh…I um…I need to watch this video alone.”

“Okay, everybody let’s clear out.” Jack says to the guys taking pictures. Nobody moves though, so Jack raises his voice and claps his hands. "Everybody, let’s go, leave the room, please.” They all get out leaving Mac with the laptop.

_GARDEZ, PAKITA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN_   
_5 YEARS AGO_

_Mac is working on the bomb robot that’s supposed to go in a house to disarm a bomb. But it broke, so Mac is trying to fix it. He hears his CO Alfred Pena behind him._

_“What’s the hold up, Mac?” Pena asks._

_“Damn thing broke again, Al.” Mac says._

_“Alright, finish fixing it. I can get this one.” Pena says._

_“Just give me five minutes.” Mac says._

_“We don’t have five minutes, bud. We got bomb calls all over the city today. Just patch up the bot and get it ready for our next stop.” Pena says. Mac nods. Pena puts on his helmet and walks inside the house where the bomb is._

_“Copy me in there?” Mac asks to see if the comms are working._

_“Yeah, I copy.” Pena replies._

Mac plays the video. He sees Pena walking inside the house searching for the bomb. “I’m getting some funny feedback over the comms in here, MacGyver. Are you getting the same thing out there?” Pena asks. He steps on the rug and hears a click. “Damn. Just stepped on a pressure plate detonator here. I’m gonna have to disarm it, while I’m on it.” Pena says as he kneels down.

Mac wipes away a tear as he continues watching the video. “Hey, Mac. I want to say, thanks again, for, uh, covering me the next three weeks. It’s gonna be weird going home. But, uh…being a dad? That’s almost as scary as-as this stuff.” Mac puts his hand on his mouth as tears started streaming down his face. “We’re gonna name her Anabelle, after my mom. Can you imagine? Me with a daughter?” Pena says and chuckles. “I just know it’s gonna turn me into a big softie. Don’t tell anyone I said that.” Pena says as he cuts the last wire. “Alright. This, us pressure plate detonator is disabled.” He glances up at the wall. “Is…is that a camera?” And there is a big explosion and the video finishes. _“PENA!!”_ Mac closes his eyes as he hears his scream when the house exploded.

Jack comes back in the room to see Mac wipes some tears and sniffing. “Hey.” Jack says and Mac glances at him. He sees his watery blue eyes. “You doing alright?” he asks. Mac remains silent for a moment and he whispers

“Anabelle.”

“Who’s Anabelle?” Jack asks. Mac sighs.

“He named his daughter Anabelle. I didn’t know that.” Mac says. “When he walked into the house, the radio fritzed out. I didn’t hear any of this.” He wipes his nose and glances at Jack. “I was supposed to cover him so he can go and see the birth of his daughter.”

“And who is this guy again?” Jack asks.

“He was my CO. Alfred Pena. He was my EOD training officer. He was the best. Every trainee wanted him as their teacher. And uh…” he sighs, “he thought me everything I know about bomb disposal.” Mac says and he shakes his head. “All these years, and I didn’t know this is how it happened.”

“How old is his daughter now?” Jack asks.

“Uh…sh…she’d be at least 5.” Mac says with a shaky voice. “I never visited her, or her mother. I…never even called.”

“Hey, there’s guys I have fought and bled with, okay? Now that we’re back in the States, we don’t even talk. Seeing each other just…reopens old wounds, you know what I mean?” Jack says.

“Yeah, well…this wound’s not gonna close. Not until I find The Ghost and put him away.” Mac says with fire in his eyes. Jack nods.

“Alright, let’s make that happen.” Leanna comes inside. She can see that Mac was crying, but decided not to ask.

“So, looks like this guy also kept financial records on his laptop. It’s a tangle of shells and holding companies. Very confusing stuff.”

“Which means you probably found something, right?” Jack asks already knowing the answer.

“I did. The same shell company that pays the rent for this apartment, they also own a warehouse in Queens.” Leanna says. They get in the car and arrive at the warehouse.

They get out of the car and just stand there looking at the warehouse. Mac is seeing if there are any threats, but there is nothing.

“Okay, I’m first in. This guy could have…” he couldn’t finish cause the warehouse explodes. The force throws them back. Jack flipping over the car, Mac and Leanna hitting it with their backs. _‘More bruises. Great.’_ When they get up, Mac calls Charlie to come at the warehouse. Charlie arrives with experts and the fire department. They tape the area and start taking pictures. The firefighters put out the fire. Mac and the rest go inside the warehouse. It’s all black. Matty arrives aswell. The two of them walk inside to meet with the rest.

“That’s him.” Charlie says as they see a body on the ground. “Blast trauma is so severe, it’ll take a while to get a positive ID.”

“Hey, why does it smell like bleach in here?” Jack asks.

“Acetone peroxide.” Mac replies. “He must have been working on a triacetone triperoxide device. That’s why the explosion was more gas than flame.”

“Figured he knew you guys were on his tail, wanted to burn the lab and split but rushed the built. TATP man. Very unstable.” Charlie says.

“No. This guy was too good to make a mistake like that.” Mac says.

“TATP isn’t called the Mother of Satan for nothing, Mac. It’s taken out many a talented bomb makers over the years.” Charlie says. But Mac is not convinced.

“Mother of Satan? Name paints quite the picture. What is this stuff?” Jack asks.

“It’s a highly explosive substance popular with bomb makers cause modern scanners can’t detect it.” Mac replies. “It’s also notoriously risky, because even the slightest touch can detonate it, as you can see here.” He adds.

“I’m thinking this ghost, got bit by his own monster as he was trying to flee New York. And if he’s dead, that means the peace talks are safe.” Charlie says. Jack glances at Mac.

“Mac…” he trails off and Mac looks at him “you got that look in your eye.” Mac turns around and a flash from the past came into his head.

_EOD TRAINING GROUND_   
_6 YEARS AGO_

_Mac connects the rope to the bomb. He takes the rope and runs back. But he’s slow, because he’s tired._

_“Faster, MacGyver. Your unit’s in danger. Your friends are in danger. You. Are. In. Danger!” Pena shouts as Mac gets ready to pull the rope. Mac pulls the rope and the device beeps. “Boom! Angus MacGyver is dead.” Pena says._

_“There’s no way that bomb went off!” Mac says. Pena goes and pours water in a cup._

_“You sure you got it right?” Pena asks._

_“The post was right. The wrench angle is right. It was all right.” Mac says. Mac throws the rope on the ground with anger and receives water from Pena._

_“And yet the bomb exploded.” Pena says. “Guess something was wrong.” Mac drinks the water while looking at the bomb. Then it hits him._

_“Hold on…” Mac takes a look at the phone that was on his suit. “It wasn’t a bolt fuze. It was detonated electrically.” Mac says._

_“Exactly.” Pena says. He points to the bomb. “You were in such a hurry, to build the rope system, to remove the bolt, because that’s what you thought the test was. You didn’t bother to step back, see the big picture. If you used that RF jammer, you’d still be alive.” They look at each other for a moment and Pena speaks. “What’s the first rule?”_

_“Identify what can kill you now, and what can kill you later.” Mac replies._

_“And what can kill you know?” Pena asks._

_“The bomb.” Mac replies._

_“No! Getting emotional about the bomb. Remember, you have feelings about the bomb. The bomb doesn’t have feelings about you.” Pena says. He walks closer to Mac and puts a hand on his shoulder. “You are the best damn student I’ve ever had. You’ve got courage and you’ve got heart. Just make sure you step back, and see things what they really are, not what they seem to be.” Mac nods. “Now…just for fun, pull the fuze out.” Pena says with a smile. “You got this.”_

_“I got this.” Mac says with a smile. He takes on last sip and throws the cup._

“That’s not The Ghost.” Mac says pointing at the body.

“He had a go-bag packed and ready…passport, money, plane ticket.” Matty says.

“And he had a computer over there, Mac.” Leanna says. “It had just been wiped, ten minutes before we got here.”

“This guy was ready to get out of town. He burned down this place to cover his tracks.” Matty says.

“No.” Mac shakes his head. “That’s how he works. All of this. This is what he does. He wanted us to believe he was fleeing, he wanted us to believe he was dead, so we’d call of the dogs. He’s still alive.” Mac says with anger. He glances at the body. “Whatever he was working on here, he completed it. He blew this place up to cover his tracks. He’s gonna try again at the UN and he’s gonna kill a lot more people, and I’m not gonna let that happen.” Mac says as he starts walking out.

“Neither are we. Hey, listen. Stop, now.” Jack says as he grabs Mac’s hand. “You heard what I said. You don’t get to do anything stupid by yourself. Are you really sure about this?” Mac turns around and goes out and says

“Never been more sure about anything in my life.” Mac says. Jack and Leanna follow him.

“Has he always been like this?” Matty asks Charlie.

“A man who trusted his gut? Hell yeah.” Charlie replies with a smile.

_OUTSIDE OF THE UN BUILDING_

Mac started searching the area. They don’t see bombs and they don’t see suspicious men. “Anything?” Matty asks.

“Nothing but cops, bomb techs and nerdy looking diplomats.” Leanna replies.

“What are you thinking?” Matty asks Mac.

“I think we haven’t thought of everything. I mean…he could be one of these guys.” Mac says looking at the soldiers, cops and crowd.

“Mac, we have no photos, no prints, no ID, nothing.” Matty says.

“Then we need to walk it again. There has to be an approach we’re missing.” Mac says. “Can you pull up a live satellite of the area?” Mac asks Leanna. Leanna takes her tablet and opens the live satellite.

Mac takes a look and sees a van parking on the other street. He zooms in. “Okay, right there. An NYPD mobile HQ just pulled up on the far side of the building.” Mac says.

“There’s nothing unusual about that.” Matty says.

“One, no.” Mac says as he points to an NYPD mobile HQ truck parked a few meters away from them. “Two, yes. That second truck is him.” He says as he starts running for the second truck. They spot the truck and see a cop entering the back. “That’s him!” Mac shouts.

Jack is the first to react. He runs and opens the back door to see the cop in the front. He steps in the truck, only to hear a click.

“Did that just click?” Jack asks with a shaky voice.

“Do not…move.” Mac replies. The fake cop gets out of the truck, steals a car and he is gone.

“Put an APB on the vehicle! Now!” Matty shouts.

Mac and Jack glance at each other. Jack is not breathing, scared if he takes a breath the truck will explode. He is scared to death right now.

“That click you heard was when your body activated the detonator under the pressure plate.” Mac says.

“Am I gonna die here?” Jack whispers shakily.

“When your foot comes off…it goes off. Till I find out exactly what is going on here…you can’t move. Don’t touch anything.” Mac says. “I’m gonna go look for the bomb. I’ll be right back.” Mac is off looking for the bomb.

“I have a little confession to make.” Jack says glancing at Matty and Leanna.

“What?” Matty says with a shaky voice.

“I’m starting to freak out a little bit.” Jack says. His eyes are now watery. “What a way to spend Halloween, huh?”

“Dalton, look at me.” Matty says. “Breath. And think of something that’s gonna make you feel calm.”

“2010, I was in this job in Peru. Right before we met.” He says glancing at Matty. “So I had to Skype into my fantasy football league draft. I thought I was screwed with the 12th round pick but I remembered that the last pick in the first round is the first pick in the second, so, boom-boom, I get this great quarterback wide receiver combo…” Jack looks at Matty and Leanna who are glancing at each other. “What?”

“If talking about your fantasy football league helps you stay calm, then…keep going.” Leanna says. Jack gulps.

“I…If I’m gonna die here, I don’t want any secrets to be kept. So, Matty, I…I told Diane about The Phoenix.” Jack says. Matty remains silent for a bit and then speaks.

“Why, Jack?” Matty asks. Jack shakes his head.

“If I…keep secrets from her and she finds out, I’m scared that she will leave me. And I’m planning to ask her to marry me, so I don’t want to keep secrets from her. And I trust her with my life that she won’t tell.”

“Okay.” Matty says. _‘That went better than I thought.’_ Jack says to himself.

Mac searches the whole truck. Inside, outside, motor, tires, and then he opens a small door that’s on the side of the truck. And there it is. When he sees how big the explosives are, his heart stops.

“Found the explosives. It’s enough to take out a city block.” Mac says.

“Quick and painless.” Jack says.

“Only if I mess up.” Mac says. He takes out his knife and pulls out the scissors. He leans inside the truck, to cut the wires, but then it hits him. _‘See things what they really are and not what they seem to be.’_ Then he thinks of the secondary device that killed Pena, and the secondary device that almost blew the TEDAC building.

“Wait, he never uses just one bomb.” Mac says.

“What?” Jack asks. Mac glances inside and sees an air vent.

“That vent. I need you to unscrew it for me.” He hands the knife to Jack. He turns around, forgetting there’s a bomb underneath him. Mac, Matty and Leanna shout and Jack stops. His heart is in his stomach. He takes the knife and carefully unscrews the vent. He removes the vent to see another bomb.

“I knew it…a second bomb…wired to the first one. Disarming the pressure plate, detonates the vent bomb.” Mac says.

“I really, really hate this guy.” Leanna says.

“Yeah, me too.” Jack adds.

“Okay, that bolt fuze…it needs to be removed in order to defuse the vent bomb.” Mac says. “But, it needs to be taken out straight, otherwise everything will explode.”

“Hey, it’s like that old game Operation.” Jack says. He is trying to get his mind off the bomb, but it’s not working.

“Yeah, Jack, just like Operation. Except with a much bigger bang. Which is why your shaking hand is not touching that thing.” Mac says. “Hang tight, I got a plan. Leanna, go tell the sergeant to expand the perimeter.”

“Gotcha.” Leanna says and she’s off. Mac takes the tape that covers the area. He sees a cart that sells hot dogs. He runs and unscrews the two of the wheels. He takes a wire, and a rope.

“Matty…if this doesn’t work…can you tell Diane and Riley that I love them more than anything?” Jack asks.

“Jack, shut up. This is gonna work.” Matty says and Jack nods. Mac comes back with the stuff he needs.

“Jack, you’re gonna be my hands in there.” Mac says. Jack nods. Mac takes the knife and pulls out the wrench. He tapes the rope to the knife, and gives the other end of the rope which is with tape to Jack. “I need you to wrap the tape around the fuze, counterclockwise. Then, you’re gonna take the wrench and slide it onto the fuze. Do not…lift your foot of the pressure plate.” Mac says.

“Okay.” Jack says with a quiet voice. He takes the tape and wraps it around the fuze with the wrench on it.

“Perfect. Okay, I’m gonna need some distance to make this work.” Mac says.

“Huh?” Jack says with a shaky voice.

“Don’t worry. I’m coming back for you. I’m gonna get you out of this.” Mac says and he turns around.

“Hey, Mac.” Jack says. Mac stops and glances at him. “Whatever happens here…it’s not your fault. Okay?” Jack says. “It was never your fault.” Jack gives him a small smile.

“I got this.” Mac says with a smile and gets back. Using the help from the wheels he got from the cart, he carefully starts pulling the rope. The wrench starts spinning counterclockwise. Jack is not breathing. He’s just watching the wrench spinning. Then the fuze falls down. Jack is about to move.

“No! Stop! I have to cut the wire.” Mac shouts. Jack stops and sees Mac running towards him. He takes the knife, pulls out the scissors and cuts the wire. “Okay, now you can move.” Jack slowly gets down and sits next to Mac. He sees Leanna running towards them, with Matty behind her.

“Thanks, man.” Jack says as he offers a fistbump. Mac accepts it but he totally misses.

“Worst Halloween ever.” Mac says.

“Literally.” Jack adds. “Ready to party?” Jack asks. Mac glances at him and just nods.

_MAC’S HOUSE_

Mac is preparing for the party. They got back NYC 6 hours ago. Perfect for everyone to go home, get dressed, and come to Mac’s house. It was only gonna be him, Jack, Riley, Bozer, Matty, Leanna and Diane. First the one to arrive is Bozer and Leanna. Bozer is dressed up like Freddy, while Leanna like a witch. Mac was dressed like a zombie.

“I just knew you were going to go with Freddy.” Mac says laughing. Leanna laughs with her broom in her hands. Then Matty arrives dressed us…nothing.

“Where’s your costume, Matty?” Bozer asks.

“Do I need a costume to scare you?” Matty asks.

“Fair enough.” Bozer replies. Then Jack, Riley and Diane arrive. Jack dressed up as a vampire, Diane dressed up as a witch. Two witches at the party. And Riley dressed up like a scientist. When Mac saw her with her white coat on, he couldn’t stop staring. _‘Wow, she’s gorgeous’._ He says to himself.

Riley glanced at Mac and caught him staring at her. She knew she picked the right costume. She goes to him and hugs him tight.

“I’m wondering where you got the inspiration to dress up like a scientist.” Mac says with a grin.

“Is it good?” she asks as she spins in front of him.

“Are you serious? It’s perfect!” He says.

“Thank you.” She says with a grin, blushing. They hear a glass break and that startled them. They look and see Jack just staring at the ceiling. They immediately knew it was him.

“Sorry.”

_THE NEXT DAY_

Mac parks his car in front of a house. The house belongs to Pena’s family. He goes to the front porch to be greeted by Pena’s wife. He glances at Anabelle where she is playing with her dolls on a tea table outside. He takes the small chair and sits next to her.

“Hi there.” He says. Anabelle doesn’t look at him. “My name’s MacGyver.” She glances at him for a moment and looks down at her doll. The doll’s wings are broken. “There is something wrong with your doll?”

“Her wings broke.” Anabelle says.

“Can I see?” Mac asks. Anabelle gives him the doll. He fixes the doll. When he presses on the button, the wings start flapping. He gives her the doll back and she smiles.

“I’m Anabelle.” She says.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Anabelle.” Mac says with a smile. “You know, your father was a friend of mine. He was one of the bravest men I ever knew.” Anabelle glances at Mac. “If you’ll let me, I’d love to tell you all about him.” Anabelle nods.

When they finish talking, he gives her candy and says goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3 Chapter 7 will be up tomorrow.


	7. Corkscrew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the big one. I skipped Can Opener cause it didnt happen anything important there. And im probably gonna skip where Mac goes to Mission City because after everything i dont think he will be in the mood to teach. If you enjoy, leave a kudos and a comment :D

Riley joined Mac on his daily walk this evening. She really liked it up on the hill. This time, she wasn’t scared of any sounds, in fact, she was the one that had the most energy, so she didn’t stop at all. They made it to the top. Nobody was there, just the two of them.

“There is the Great Bear.” Mac says pointing at the stars. Riley can’t find it. “And there is the Little Bear.”

“Where? I can’t find it.” Riley says. Mac went behind her. He put his hands on the sides of her head so he can move it for her to see where they are. Riley saw them. “Oh, I see them.” She says. Mac remained behind her, he just lowered his hands to her shoulder. She melted from his touch. She leaned back against him, her head on his chest. She could see the stars now without tilting her head. She felt Mac’s hands around her stomach now. And she loved it. They stayed like that for a bit when Mac’s phone buzzed.

“No.” he whispered. He took out his phone and it’s a message from Matty that there is a new mission. Mac sighs in frustration. “Work.”

“Surprise.” Riley says. He rested his head on hers, referring that he was exhausted from work. Riley took his hand and squeezed it. “Let’s go.”

“You know, I don’t want to…but I have to, don’t I?” Mac says with a sad face. Riley just chuckles. Mac parked the car in front of Riley’s apartment. “So, are you gonna join me, tomorrow?” Mac asks with a smile. Riley nods. They both look at each other in the eyes, and then Riley leaned towards him, giving him a kiss on his cheek. Mac’s cheeks went on flames.

“See ya, Mac.” She says.

“See ya.” Mac says. When she left the car, Mac touches the spot on his cheek where he felt Riley’s lips. _‘Did that just happened?’_

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

Mac arrived in the war room, where Jack, Leanna and Matty are already in. “Nice of you to join us, Blondie.” Matty says.

“Sorry I’m late.” Mac says. He glances around the room. “Where’s Bozer?”

“At your house. Remember?” Leanna asks.

“Oh, right.” Mac replies. The situation with Riley made him forget everything.

“Why are you dressed like that, dude?” Jack asks.

“I was on my walk, dude.” Mac replies.

“Guys, we’re on the clock here.” Matty says. Three newspapers appear on the screen. “2008, a Mossad operative was murdered in Madrid. 2010, a human rights lawyer in Dubai. 2012, a CIA informant in Tokyo.” Matty says as Mac gets a couple of paperclips. “All of these high profile assassinations were carried out by the same man.” A picture of a man comes up on the screen. But his face is covered. “Unidentified hitman known only by his CIA file number: Suspect 218. According to Langley, he likes to contact his targets right before he kills them.”

“A hitman who texts his victims first?” Mac asks as text messages appear on the screen.

“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” Leanna reads the first message. “What does that even mean?” she asks.

“Lewis Carroll. Famous riddle with no real solution.” Mac replies.

“That’s just him taunting his victims.” Jack says.

“The CIA received intel that S-218 was hired for a job here in the States. But their investigation hit a wall, so they reached out to us.” Matty says.

“Any idea who hired him?” Jack asks.

“No. And we don’t know who the target is either.” Matty replies.

“Sounds like we don’t know anything.” Leanna says.

“Actually, we know one thing. Him.” Matty says as a man appears on the screen.

“Rajan Patel. An Indian diplomat?” Mac asks as he walks towards the screen.

“Patel landed in LAX 15 minutes ago. CIA says he’s using his diplomatic pouch which can’t legally be searched, to smuggle in a dossier on S-218 next target.” Matty says.

“So, to avoid tipping off his next victim, S-218 wants the dossier hand delivered.” Mac says.

“If the CIA is tracking him, why aren’t they moving on him?” Jack asks.

“My contact expects he has moles inside the agency.” Matty replies.

“So he wants Phoenix to tail Patel to his next meet, and catch S-218?” Mac asks as he puts down the figure. It looks like a Corksaw.

“Correct. This is the biggest lead we’ve ever had on this guy. And it might be our last chance to stop him.” Matty says.

“Let’s do it.” Jack says.

_KENNERSTON ART LOFT_

Good thing the Phoenix had suits and dresses. Mac, Jack, Leanna and Matty arrive at the party. There are a lot of people here, all of them nicely dressed up. Beautiful art on the walls. It was nice. But they didn’t come here to party and to look at art. They came here to catch a hitman.

“Hey, remind me again why people get all dressed up just to stand around in a room and stare at each other?” Jack says as he picks up a glass of red wine.

“Hey, you’re not allowed to complain until you’re stuck in high heels.” Leanna says.

“Well, I’ll trade you. I could use those in a fight. I don’t fight fair.” Jack says. “Although, I don’t see the tactical advantage to me having this noose around my neck right now.” Jack says as he adjusts his tie. Jack joins Mac, where he is looking to a picture on the wall. Jack glances at the picture. “Man, my nephew can finger-paint better than this.” Jack says.

“I think it’s a Chardin.” Mac says.

“Yeah? Well, it looks more like a piece of Chardin, to me.” Jack says as he turns around and leaves. Mac just chuckles. Matty spots Patel.

“Hey, guys, heads up. Our target has arrived.” Matty says. Mac sees him.

“He must have the pouch on him somewhere, but I can’t see it.” Mac says as he glances at Patel who is shaking hands with guests.

“Keep an eye on everyone he’s talking to. One of them is our hitman.” Matty says. Matty looks at Patel who is going somewhere. “He’s on the move.”

“I got him.” Leanna says. Patel turns right and Leanna loses him. “I lost visual.” Leanna looks around and spots him. “I see him. But he’s no longer wearing his jacket.” Leanna says.

“Which is probably where he kept that pouch of goodies.” Jack says.

“Where did he leave it? Anyone got eyes on it?” Matty asks.

“I do.” Leanna replies. “But it’s on someone else right by the east wall.”

“That’s gotta be our guy. We missed the drop.” Jack says. Mac sees the guy, and the guy starts running down the stairs.

“He’s rabbiting. Let’s go!” Mac says as he starts chasing him. Jack is right behind Mac. They chase the guy down the stairs. They see that he has orange hair. Not that it helps. Then the guy starts skipping the stairs, jumping from railing to railing. _‘Whoa.’_ Mac thought. Mac had an idea. He turns around and takes off the lamp on the wall.

“What are you doing?” Jack asks.

“Just get him!” Mac says. Jack starts running down the stairs. Mac takes out the wires and shouts “Jack, don’t touch the rail!” Mac touches the rail with the wires and he hears screaming. When he looks down, the guy is on the floor and not moving. He runs down. Jack and Mac arrive on the floor but the man was gone.

“Where is he?” Mac asks.

“I don’t know, man. I came down here and he was gone.” Jack replies. He sees a paper on the ground. “Hang on. He dropped something.” Jack picks it up and takes a look at a picture. He raises his eyebrows. “Well I just found out who the target is.” Jack says as he shows the picture to Mac. Mac eyes got wide when he saw that the man on the picture was him.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_   
_IT WAS VERY, VERY LATE_

Mac and Leanna were waiting in the war room, while Jack and Matty were interrogating Patel. Mac was thinking about who hired the hitman. But the thoughts were interrupted when Jack and Matty came back in the room.

“Did the diplomat gave you anything?” Mac asks.

“Oh, he didn’t want to, but then Matty threatened his diplomatic community. He sang like a canary.” Jack replies.

“A canary that knows next to nothing. Says he was hired anonymously. The diplomatic pouch…shipped to him, already sealed. His instructions were to put the pouch in his jacket and leave it on the bench at the party.” Matty says.

“Yeah, he didn’t know squat, he was kind of a dead end.” Jack says. And then it hits Mac.

“It doesn’t matter. I know who ordered the hit.” Mac says as he walks towards the screen. He presses the screen and picture of a familiar woman appears. “It was Nikki.”

“What makes you say that?” Jack asks.

“Because she took that picture when we got back from a mission. She had the only copy.” Mac says.

“Maybe she’s just tired of running. She knows we are looking for her.” Jack says.

“Yeah, but why send S-218 a photo you’d know came from her?” Leanna asks.

“I guess she didn’t mind if we found out she ordered the hit.” Mac replies.

“Jack, you’ll start running down leads. Leanna, you’re with me. We’ll get word out every law enforcement agency in the city. This is an all hands situation.” Matty says.

“So what am I doing?” Mac asks.

“You’ll be staying right there.” Matty says. Mac chuckles.

“Forget it. I’m the best bait you have to draw this guy out into the open.” Mac says.

“No, no, man, I agree with her. Whether it’s deep sea fishing or hitman hunting, you don’t throw you friends out there as bait. You know that.” Jack says.

“Mac, you can’t help anyone if you’re dead.” Matty says. Mac can’t believe this. “Follow me.” Matty says glancing at him and he does that. She leads him into an empty room.

“So, I’m under house arrest?” Mac asks.

“I prefer to call it protective custody.” Matty replies.

“I don’t even get a chair to sit in?” Mac asks.

“No, because you would figure out how to turn that chair into a cannon, or a…” Matty says.

“Come on, I’d need a propellant to make a cannon.” Mac interrupted.

“See? You’re already thinking about it. Look, Mac, you and I both know what you’re capable of, so I’ve had everything removed, down to the last paperclip. Now if you don’t mind.” Matty says as she spreads out her hand. Mac knows what she wants.

“You can’t be serious.” He says.

“Am I ever not?” Matty asks. Mac doesn’t even answer. He takes out his SAK and gives it to her.

“You don’t really think this’ll keep me in here, do you?” Mac asks.

“I was hoping a direct order from your boss would be enough to keep you here, but just in case…magnetic locks.” Matty says as she points to the door. “No one’s getting in, and you’re not getting out.” Matty walks out, punches the code, and closes the door, leaving Mac inside with the door locked.

Mac glances around the room, but there is not even a scrub of bread in there. But they didn’t remove everything. Mac spots a power socket. He has an idea. He gets what he needs, he does what needs to do, and somehow, he can type in the code. He does that and the door opens. He laughs in relief and runs out. Mac goes out so he can search for the hitman. When he goes outside he sees Jack leaning on his car.

“What took you so long?” Jack asks.

“I thought you were out chasing leads.” Mac says.

“No, no. I watch your back. That’s my job remember? We talked about this.” Jack says.

“I’m not gonna be stuck in a room, while the killer that Nikki hired is out on the loose.” Mac says.

“Relax. I’m not here to stop you. I’m here to drive you.” Jack says as he takes out Mac’s phone and gives it to him.

“Where are we going?” Jack asks as he walks over to the other side of the car.

“Matty’s gonna be pissed.” Mac says.

“Nah, she’ll get over it.” Jack says as he throws Mac’s SAK to him. Then Mac’s phone buzzes. Jack notices the confusion on Mac’s face. “What is it?” he asks.

“It’s a text from a blocked number. “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word.” Mm.” Mac says.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Jack asks.

“Well, it’s a lyric from “Home on the Range.”.” Mac replies.

“Yeah, I know, I love the track, but what does it mean?” Jack asks. Mac thinks, and thinks and he got it.

“He’s telling me where he is.” Mac says as he gets in the car. So does Jack.

“Where to?” Jack asks.

“My house.” He replies

_MAC’S HOUSE_

Bozer is watching TV with a beer in his hand. It was late so he was wondering if the guys are still on a mission. He wanted to call, but he was scared that he was gonna ruin what they were doing. He finished his beer and was ready to go home. But he hears the doorbell ring. He goes and opens the door to see a man in a black jacket with orange hair.

“Hi, I’m a friend of MacGyver’s. Is he home?” the man asks with a creepy smile. Bozer knows Mac’s friends. But not this guy.

“He’s not home.” Bozer answers.

“Can I come in and wait for him?” the man asks.

“Uh…” he couldn’t finish because there was a gun pointed at his head.

“Please?” the man says. “Get in.” he tells Bozer and Bozer does that. He didn’t have an option. “Lovely home.” The man says.

Jack was driving fast. Full throttle. Mac tries to call Bozer but he doesn’t pick up. It goes to voicemail.

“Come on Bozer, pick up the phone.” Mac says. Then he calls Matty. She answers.

“Hello?”

“Matty, it’s me.” Mac says.

“Mac? How did you get out of the room?” Matty asks.

“Child’s play. Anyway, I need you to send a tac team at my house. That’s where the hitman is.” Mac says.

“How do you know?” Matty asks.

“He sent me a message. Hurry.” Mac replies and hangs up.

The man sees Bozer’s George Washington mask. “Now that is really good. George Washington, right?” He asks as he picks up the mask.

“Yeah.” Bozer replies

“Where did you get it?” the man asks.

“I made it.” Bozer answers.

“Amazing.” Bozer is pissed off. If he could just make a move somehow…he hears a car outside. “Sounds like our Angus is home. Stay there.” The man says as he walks back to the bathroom.

Mac comes blasting through the door. He sees Bozer with his hands up. “Where is he?” Mac asks. Bozer nods to the direction. When Mac turns around he sees a man with the George Washington mask on his head and a gun pointed at him. He runs, takes Bozer and hides behind the kitchen counter. Bullets are flying, glass is everywhere.

“Mac, who is this?!” Bozer shouts.

“Nikki hired a hitman to kill me!” Mac says.

“Seriously?!” Jack comes in and starts shooting the man. S-218 goes out on the porch.

“This feels so un-America. What up, Boze?” Jack asks.

“Living the life, Jack! What about you?” Bozer says sarcastically. Jack is looking carefully for S-218 to pop up. And he does. He blasts through the window and starts shooting. Jack shoots aswell and takes cover behind the kitchen counter with Mac and Bozer. Jack rises up, turns around and shoots a couple of times.

“Mac, do something, man!” Bozer says.

“I’m with him cause I’m running out of ammo.” Jack says. Mac grabs two bottles of wine. He gives the bottles to Bozer and hands him his SAK.

“Open these, and pour out about a third each.” Mac says. And Bozer does that, but instead of pouring, he drinks it. Mac takes two paper towel rolls out of the trash can. Bozer finishes with the bottles. He takes the bottles and tapes one roll on one bottle, the other roll on the other bottle.

“You might want to start worrying, cause I think Nikki’s guy is loaded for bear, and I got less than half a mag left here.” Jack says. Mac puts the corks on the bottles and pumps some gas in the bottle with a gap he made. He takes a broom, puts the bottles on it and it’s showtime. Jack takes the two last shots he had.

“That’s it. I’m out.” Jack says. S-218 starts walking towards them while shooting. Mac comes out of cover, aims the broom at S-218, takes the cork out from the first bottle, and the bottle flies towards the man. S-218 dodges the bottle, which flew out the window. Then Mac launches the second bottle, and it hits the man right in the chest. That pushes him through a window, and falls out from the porch. Mac and Jack run to the railing. They look everywhere but there’s no sign of him.

“You see him?” Mac asks.

“Nah, man. He’s gone.” Jack answers. Mac glances at Bozer.

“Did he say anything?” he asks. Bozer shakes his head. “I’m sorry, man.”

“It’s fine, bro. Now if you just explain to me what’s happening, it would be better.” Bozer says.

Mac and Jack explain everthing to Bozer. Matty and Leanna arrive at Mac’s house with the tac team, but it’s too late for the tac team now. They called experts to examine everything in the house.

“Where’s Bozer?” Leanna asks.

“In my room. He’s kinda drunk though.” Mac answers.

“What?” Leanna is so confused.

“He drank a whole bottle of wine for Mac to make a rocket.” Jack says with a smile. Trying his best not to laugh. Leanna rushes in Mac’s room to see Bozer sitting on the bed. Bozer stands up and hugs Leanna tight.

“Are you okay?” Leanna asks.

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” Bozer answers and kisses her on the lips.

Mac sees a man trying to find prints on the door knobs. “You’re wasting your time. He was wearing gloves.” Mac says. Then his phone buzzes. He takes it out to see a message from a blocked number. “You are fun!” the message said with two bottles of wine and an explosion on top of the text. He glances at tech with a laptop. “Could you trace this for me, please?” he asks. The woman nods and takes the phone.

“Mac. I’m glad you’re alive.” Matty says.

“Sorry I broke your door.” Mac says.

“Guys, Bozer was the only one who saw his face.” Leanna says.

“Okay, but we’ll do it in the morning, cause…” he points to Bozer who is slightly wobbling.

_DIANE’S APARTMENT_

It was early morning. Like…really early. Riley couldn’t sleep more. She woke up and looked at the clock 7:08 AM. She went to sleep at 1 AM. So she was confused why she couldn’t sleep. She got up, brushed her teeth and made herself breakfast. Diane was still asleep. She woke up at 8 AM every morning to get ready and go to work.

Riley finished eating. When she went to throw the leftovers, she saw that the garbage can was full. She sighed. She got dressed, put on her shoes and went in the alleyway to throw the trash. It was disgusting around her. The smell was awful, there were bugs, cigars, crap. She went to the dumpster and threw the trash. She started walking back when a hand was on her mouth.

“Scream, and you die.” A voice said from behind her. It was a man. The man placed something below her nose. When she breathed in, blackness.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

Bozer was helping the techs on the computer to make the face of the hitman. “No, Adrian, that’s still not it.” Bozer says.

“Tracing the text messages was a bust. He’s using an anonymous SMS account.” Leanna says.

“Aquiline nose. Aquiline.” Bozer says. A couple of noses come up and denies all of them. He seen enough. “Hell no. Man, look…” he takes a board and starts drawing. “I thought you were better, Adrian.” Bozer whispers playfully. “Here.” He finishes drawing. He drew S-218’s face.

“Whoa.” Jack is amazed by Bozer’s drawing skills.

“Nice work, Boze.” Mac says.

“And it just might be good enough for facial recognition.” Leanna says. She takes a photo of the drawing, and starts running facial rec. Then S-218 appears.

“That’s him. That’s Mr. Hitman.” Bozer says. Then more identities come up with the same guy on the picture.

“Whoa, plot twist. He doesn’t have just one identity, he has eight. And counting.” Leanna says.

“I bet every one of those identities lines up with a job he pulled, which means we finally have a lead on the guy.” Mac says. Jack phones starts ringing. It’s Diane, he answers.

“Hello.”

“Jack. Is Riley with you?” Diane asks.

“No. I’m at work.”

“Well…I woke up and she wasn’t home. I tried calling her and her phone is off. I’m starting to get scared.”

“Did she leave a note or something?” Jack asks. He’s starting to get scared too.

“No. I checked everywhere.” Diane answers.

“Okay, don’t go anywhere. I’m on my way.” Jack says as he starts walking for the door.

“Jack, what’s going on?” Mac asks.

“Riley’s gone.” Jack says as he walks out. Mac’s chest tightens and he follows Jack.

“I’m coming with you.” Mac says.

“Alright.” Jack replies

“What happened?” Mac asks. He is really worried right now.

“She’s not answering her phone. She didn’t leave a note. And she was gone when Diane woke up which was 8 AM.” Jack says with a shaky voice. Mac is shaking his leg in the car. A hitman was trying to kill him, and now Riley’s gone missing. _‘What if he has her?’_ Mac slams his hand on the interior from the thought. “Whoa, what the hell?” Jack asks.

“What if he has her?” Mac asks with a shaky voice. Jack glances at him with fear. He slams the throttle.

They arrive at the apartment. Jack hugs Diane tight, and Mac looks around to see if there is anything that could help them find Riley. He realizes that the trash can was open and empty.

“Did you take out the trash today or yesterday?” Mac asks Diane.

“No. Neither did Riley yesterday.” Diane says. Mac bolts to the alleyway where the dumpsters are and Jack follows him. They make it to the dumpster. They look around for any clues. But there’s nothing. Until Mac sees a little piece of paper taped on the side of the dumpster. He opens the paper _“I have your little princess. I think you know how to find me. And can you ask Wilt if I can have another one of those masks? I love those things. <3”._

“Son of a bitch!!!” Jack yells as he kicks a trash can. Mac falls to his knees while looking at the message. Next thing he knows, tears are falling from his eyes.

“If something happens to her, it’s on me.” Mac says with a shaky quiet voice. Jack glances at him. “If something happens to her, it’s on me!!” he shouts.

“L…let’s just focus on finding her now.” Jack said “You know how to find me”. What does he mean?” Jack asked. Mac glances around the area and he got it.

“Traffic cams.” He stands up. “Get Diane, and let’s go to the Phoenix.” Jack runs up to the apartment.

“What happened?” Diane asks. Jack doesn’t know how to say this, but he can’t keep this from her.

“She got kidnapped.” Jack says. Diane gasps and puts her hand on her mouth. Tears started falling on her cheeks.

“By who?” Diane asks. Jack sighs and looks down.

“A hitman was hired to…kill Mac. He failed yesterday and now…he has Riley.” Jack says. Diane started sobbing when she heard what he said. “Right now, I need you to come to the Phoenix with me, okay?” Diane nods. They get in the car where Mac is waiting in the passenger seat. Diane gets in the back. Mac turns to her.

“I’m really sorry.” Mac says with a shaky voice. Diane glances at him. She can see that he’s been crying too. But that’s not gonna bring back Riley. Diane doesn’t say anything. She just looks away from him.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

The three of them rush to the war room. As soon as Mac steps in the room he says

“Leanna, pull up all traffic cams from the area at Diane’s apartment.”

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Leanna says.

“Just do it!” Mac shouts.

“S-218 has Riley. He kidnapped her in the alleyway next to the apartment. So pull up those cameras.” Jack says. Leanna starts typing.

“Time?” she asks.

“Uh…7 AM to 8 AM.” Mac says. Leanna does that. She fast forwards a bit and they see Riley coming out of the building.

“There she is.” Diane says. She enters the alleyway and they can’t see her anymore.

“Pull up another camera.” Jack says. Leanna does so. And now they can see Riley throwing the trash. Then they see S-218 grab her from behind. He takes some kind of a bottle and puts it in front of Riley. Then she’s unconscious. They see S-218 drag her on the ground to the car. He puts her in the trunk and drives off. Mac wipes his face with his hands multiple times.

“Okay, follow him.” Jack says.

“Actually, that’s the same car he rented with one of his aliases at LAX.” Leanna says.

“All rental car companies these days a have LoJack…can you track it?” Jack asks.

“Yes.” Leanna does her magic and they got a location.

“Junkyard in Sun Valley. Let’s go.” Mac says as he starts walking, but Jack puts a hand on his chest and stops him.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Jack says.

“Hey, Riley is with that psycho because of me. I need to be with you there not…” Mac says.

“Hey, hey!” Jack interrupts. “I’m not gonna argue with you about this, alright? I cannot do my thing If I’m worried about losing you every minute.” Jack shouts. Bozer, Leanna, Matty and Diane are looking at them. “The last thing I need is your death on my conscience. That’d kill me. Don’t do that to me.” Jack says with a shaky voice. “You know, sometimes the best way to watch your back is to have your back somewhere else entirely.” Mac puts his hands on his hips, looks down and exhales shakily. “Listen, I know you are worried about Riley. I am too. And if you die…imagine how she’s going to feel.”

“Just…bring her back okay?” Mac says.

“I promise.” Jack says. He goes over to Diane and kisses her forehead. “Bozer, Leanna…let’s go.” The three of them walk out. Mac collapses on a chair and buries his face in his hands. A few moments later he feels a hand on his shoulder. He glances up and sees Diane next to him.

“She’s gonna be okay, Mac.” Matty says. Mac doesn’t say anything, just nods.

_SUN VALLEY, CA_

Riley wakes up and sees the she is in the middle of a big building of some kind. She is handcuffed to a chair, and tied around her stomach to the chair. She can’t move at all. She starts gasping and shaking, then she hears whistling. She glances up to see a man coming down the stairs.

“Oh, you’re awake.” The man says. Riley is scared to death. She feels tears on her cheeks.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Riley asks.

“Doesn’t matter and nothing.” The man answers.

“Please…just…let me go.” Riley says with a shaky voice. The man starts laughing.

“Do you know how much I love seeing people cry and beg?” the man asks. Riley doesn’t answer, just looks down. “You see…I kidnapped you, so I can lure MacGyver to come here, so I can finish him.”

“What?” Riley asks with a raised voice. “Why would you kill Mac? He works in a think tank.” The man starts laughing.

“A think tank?!” he says as he continues laughing. “Oh, Riley, Riley, Riley…you don’t know anything, do you?”

“What are you talking about?” She asks.

“Oh, this is gonna be fun.” The man says. He takes a chair and sits in front of Riley. “Listen, my dear Riley, your Jack and your boyfriend are not who you think they are.”

“Mac’s not my boyfriend.” Riley says. The man rolls his eyes.

“Sure. Anyway, ready for the kicker? They work for a secret spy organization.”

“I don’t believe you.” Riley says. The man chuckles.

“That’s your choice, if you want to believe me or not.” He says as he stands up and walks upstairs.

“Please…let me go.” Riley says.

“That depends on MacGyver, sweetheart.” The man replies.

Jack, Bozer and Leanna arrive at the junkyard. It’s quite. Too quiet. They begin searching for S-218’s car. And they spot it.

“That’s his car up there.” Leanna says with her laptop in one hand and her gun in the other.

“Yeah, that means he could be close. Keep an eye out, be careful.” Jack says.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

Mac, Matty and Diane are watching everything that’s happening at that junkyard. They are watching via property’s camera. They can see Jack looking inside the car through the windows.

“I need to be there.” Mac says.

“And get yourself killed? I don’t think so.” Matty says.

“How does this guy know about Riley?” Diane asks. Mac runs his hand through his hair.

“I don’t know….” Mac says. He then glances at Diane. “Look, Diane, I’m really sorry. This is all my fault. Because of my problems, Riley is there. I…” Mac couldn’t finish cause he was interrupted by Diane.

“Mac, Riley feels safe when she’s with you. That’s what she said to me. And from what I can see, you are willing to go there and sacrifice your life so you can keep her safe. You don’t have to say sorry. You didn’t know this was gonna happen. Right now, we just hope they can get Riley back.” Diane says as a tear streamed down her cheek.

JUNKYARD

Jack opens the passenger door and sees a newspaper, and a phone inside. He picks up the phone. “Leanna, I got a phone in here. See what you can do.” Jack says as he gives her the phone. Leanna connects the phone with her laptop. Jack then opens the backseat door and sees a diplomatic pouch. “I got a diplomatic pouch in here.”

Jack picks up the diplomatic pouch and the phone starts ringing. “The phone is ringing.” Leanna says.

“Answer it.” Jack says. Leanna does and a familiar voice that Bozer knows comes up.

“You know, it’s so nice to be dealing with a government agency that’s semi competent. Now…everyone with a gun, place them on the ground, step away.” S-218 says.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” Jack says.

“Mm, well…I beg to differ.” S-218 says as lasers show up on their chests. “Have you ever heard of remote sniper rifles? Free-hanging barrels, quick strike firing pins, laser range finders to account for target speed. Any one of these babies can put a bullet through your spinal column before you can blink. Fun times, right? And you’ve got three of these beauties all programmed through a simple remote…that’s what I call a good time. So, why don’t you all play nice and drop your little guns.” S-218 says.

They all exchange glances and Leanna and Bozer drop their guns. But not Jack. “Jack?” Leanna whispers.

“I wanna hear Riley first.” Jack says. But S-218 didn’t answer. Did Jack make a huge mistake? There is a lot of silence until he hears a familiar shaky voice.

“Jack!” Riley shouts.

“Heard enough?” S-218 asks. Jack winces and drops his gun. Mac clenches his fists and teeth when he heard Riley. They were listening through the comms.

“Good call. Although it does appear one of the members of your party isn’t present, and I just can’t seat you until everybody’s hear. MacGyver? I can only assume that you’re listening in. I got to tell you, Mac. I thought this was just gonna be another simple job. But you have made things so damned…interesting.” S-218 says.

Mac is about to burst. “I mean, electrifying the handrails, the wine bottle rockets? I mean…” he chuckles “…who does that? You know, I have been turning people into a fertilizer for a long time, and it’s hard for me to get excited about my job anymore. But it would be a huge honor to be the one who finally puts you in the ground, Mac. A huge honor.” S-218 says.

Matty and Diane glance at Mac. They both know what’s he gonna do when S-218 ends the call.

“So big, in fact, that I am willing to trade all of the other contracts for that chance.” S-218 says.

“What other contracts?” Leanna asks.

“Come on. You did not honestly think I came here for one hit, did you?” S-218 replies. “Hey, Jack. Why don’t you take a look in that pouch for me, will you, buddy?” S-218 says. Jack takes out 3 more pictures from the pouch. “You see, I was hired to take you, Leanna, Matty and little Angus out. Not Bozer, but I really want to kill him cause he didn’t bring me another mask.” Bozer looks at Jack in confusion.

“But in all honesty, I just haven’t needed the money for years. I just take these jobs to keep from being bored. So, I’m gonna make you a deal. MacGyver meets me here. South entrance of the junkyard. And I’m gonna let the rest of you live. Including darling Riley.”

“Don’t take the bait, Mac. He’s playing games.” Bozer says.

“Now, Wilt don’t be rude. I’m a man of my word. So, believe me, when I say that if I don’t see MacGyver’s smiling little face here in the next 15 minutes, these remote sniper rifles are going to start to bang, bang, and you will hear little Riley’s scream in pain. What do you say, MacGyver? Do you want to come out and play?” S-218 asks.

Mac grabs his jacket and storms out of the room. He hears Matty and Diane call after him, but he doesn’t stop. He gets in his Jeep and drives to the junkyard. On the road, he was thinking of all the possible things that could happen to his friends, especially to Riley. She didn’t do no harm to anyone, not even scratched someone. She didn’t deserve any of this. _‘She doesn’t deserve me.’_ He says to himself.

He arrives at the junkyard. He stops to look at Jack, Leanna and Bozer to see if they were alright. And they were. They were standing still. Mac drives to the south part of the junkyard and gets out of the car. He starts roaming around, looking for S-218. Then he hears whistling. Whistling the song “Home on the Range”. He doesn’t know where the whistling is coming from. He is looking everywhere, but there’s no one.

“Okay. I’m here.” Mac shouts. Riley heard that.

“No, Mac.” She whispers. She was alone in the building.

“And with four minutes to spare.” He hears a man behind him. He turns around and sees S-218. “You have to tell me your secret to navigating LA traffic.” S-218 says with a smile. Mac stares at him. He wants to kill the guy. “Weapons. Let me see them.”

“I don’t have any.” Mac says as he takes off his jacket and puts it on the ground to show that there are no weapons.

“I got to say, this has been a real pleasure. I don’t remember a mark ever being this much fun. Although, these three really are a hoot.” S-218 says as he shows a monitor he’s holding that controls the sniper rifles.

“We had a deal. I’m here, now let them go.” Mac says. S-218 just stares at him.

“MacGyver, don’t tell me you didn’t read the fine print. I don’t let them go when you get here, I let them go when you’re dead.” S-218 says. Mac takes out his knife, throws it at a forklift next to him, and spray comes out. He can’t see anything, so can’t S-218. He grabs his knife and runs.

“You’re as advertised, MacGyver. You’re smart. Resourceful. Little too trusting. I can see now how Nikki was able to fool you for so long.” S-218 says. He looks at the monitor. “You know, I should kill your friends now. But honestly…” he chuckles, “…I’m curious for what you’re gonna do next.” He looks around for Mac. He hears footsteps behind him. He turns around and sees Mac running. He aims and shoots, but misses cause Mac jumped over some cars.

He starts running after him. Mac gets up and runs straight. He hears gunshots behind him, and bullets hitting the cars around him. _‘He’s not a good shot’_ he says to himself. Mac sees a truck and hides inside.

“You know what’s not fun, MacGyver?!” S-218 shouts. “You going back on your word. I’m sure your friends don’t appreciate that. Isn’t that right, Wilt?” S-218 and he presses a button on his monitor and a gunshot is heard.

Bozer feels a sharp pain in his left shoulder. He falls to the ground, blood coming out from the wound. “Bozer!” Leanna shouts.

“Don’t move!!” Bozer shouts. Leanna stands still and just looks at Bozer. Mac heard the shot. _‘No’._ Then he hears Jack shout.

“Oh, I’m gonna kill you! You son of a bitch!! You hear me?! You’re a dead man!!” Riley hears Jack shouting and starts crying because she thought someone got killed.

“Don’t worry, MacGyver. That’s a clean shot. Little through and through to the shoulder. See, this shot Wilt recovers from. The next one, not so much.” S-218 says. Mac looks around inside the truck. He finds every ingredients to make a bomb. He has an idea, but that idea involves his Jeep being blown to pieces.

He makes the bomb quickly and gets out of the truck. S-218 spots him and starts shooting. Bullets hitting the ground next to Mac, the cars around Mac, he stumbles a bit from the gunshot noise. _‘That thing is loud’_ He loses him and runs to his Jeep. He gets to the Jeep and places the bomb inside. But how was he gonna detonate it? He has an idea. He takes out the radio and dismantles it. With some wires, he makes a little thingy that makes your ears hurt and connects it to the bomb. Mac’s ears hurt. So he runs away from the Jeep.

S-218 hears the sound. And it annoys him. He follows the sound. His getting closer, and he knows cause the sound gets more annoying and his ears hurt. He arrives at Mac’s truck. He sees a little box next to the Jeep. That’s what was making the noise. He aims at it and shoots it. And that was a big mistake. The Jeep explodes and throws S-218 backwards. The explosion also breaks the monitor. The lasers on Jack, Leanna, and Bozer disappear. Leanna kneels next to Bozer.

“Are you okay?” Leanna says.

“I’ll live. Go get that lunatic.” Bozer says. Jack and Leanna pick up their guns and they storm towards the explosion. Mac heard the explosion and goes to see what’s left of it. He gets there and he sees his Jeep on fire. _‘I loved that thing’._ But there was no sign of S-218. His gun and monitor are on the ground. He sees a note on the ground and opens it. _“Be seeing you, Angus.” – Murdoc”._ Murdoc. That’s his name.

He hears someone running towards him. He glances behind him and sees Jack and Leanna.

“You okay, man?” Jack asks.

“Yeah.” Mac replies.

“Where is he?” Leanna asks. Mac just shrugs.

“Okay, we’ll look for him. You go and free Riley.” Jack asks. _‘Riley’_. Mac starts sprinting towards the building. Mac arrives at the entrance and hears quiet sobbing. He blasts the door open and sees Riley handcuffed to a chair.

“Riley.” Mac starts running towards her.

“Mac?” Mac takes out a paperclip and unlocks the handcuffs. He takes out his knife and cuts the rope that was around her stomach. She barely gets up. She got a little help from Mac and she collapses onto him. His hands are around her tight, to make sure that she is not gonna disappear. She is shaking violently.

“Are you okay?” Mac asks with a shaky voice. Riley nods while sobbing into his shoulder. She was holding him so tight, he could barely breathe. But he didn’t complain.

“He said he was gonna kill you.” Riley says while sobbing.

“Hey, hey.” Mac says as he breaks away and looks at her in the eyes. “I’m here. He didn’t kill me.” Mac says as he leans for his forehead to make contact with hers. He puts his hand on her cheek, and she does the same. “I’m right here. I’m right here.” He whispers.

Jack and Leanna didn’t find Murdoc. He escaped somehow. They ran to the building, to find Mac and Riley getting out. Mac holding her tight, his hands around her. Riley sees Jack and runs towards him. Jack is pushed backwards by the force of Riley’s hug.

“Oh, baby girl. I’m so sorry.” Jack whispers. Jack glances at Mac. He knows what he is thinking. They have to tell Riley the truth about the Phoenix now.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

Jack and Matty did all the explaining. They told Riley about Murdoc, about Nikki that hired him, and about how she was playing them for a year and she betrayed them. Riley just kept looking down, but still listening.

“So…you didn’t trust me. You tell mom, but not me.” Riley says glancing at Jack.

“I was just trying to keep you safe.” Jack says.

“That worked.” Riley says sarcastically. “You know…if I’d have died today, I would have liked to know why first.” Jack doesn’t say anything. He just stares at her. He hates himself. “I…I just want to go home.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. That psycho is still out there so maybe it’s for the best you stay here for the next couple of days.” Mac says.

“Is your name really even Mac?” Riley snaps. When Mac heard the question, it’s like a bullet went through his heart. She is thinking that Mac lied to her the whole time. Mac looks down and answers

“Yeah.” With a quiet voice. It really hurt him that she asked that question. Riley glances at Bozer and Leanna. They both nod referring that those are their real names.

“Mac is right, Riley. You both need to stay here for the next couple of days. Just to be safe.” Matty says. Diane puts a hand on Riley’s shoulder.

“Okay. We’ll stay.” Diane says. Leanna goes over and hugs Riley tight. Leanna counts her as like a sister. They always have fun with technology when they hang out. Riley just puts her hands on her hips.

_JACK’S APARTMENT_

Jack and Mac arrive at Jack’s apartment. Mac couldn’t go to his house cause half of it was destroyed. So he accepted Jack’s offer to sleep at his place until Mac’s house is fixed. Mac sits on the couch and just looks at the rug. He sits like that for 10 minutes, while Jack is taking a shower. When Jack comes out of the shower, he finds Mac the same as he left him.

“Mac…you can’t keep blaming yourself for this, man.” Jack says.

“We just did “a Nikki” on Riley, Jack. Because of my problems, her life after today will never be the same. And….now she hates me.” Mac says. “Did…like…she asked me if my real name was Mac.” He says with a shaky voice. “She thought I was lying to her the whole time.” Mac shakes his head. “I will never forgive myself for what happened to her.” Mac says as he takes a towel and goes into the bathroom to take a shower.

These last few weeks for Mac have been though. First finding out that Nikki was the reason Reese died, then Nikki betraying him, The Ghost coming back, and now a hitman was after him trying to kill him. And to top it all off, Riley’s mad at him and she won’t even talk to him.

In the middle of the night, Jack is woken up by shouting and screaming from the other room. He goes in and sees Mac having a nightmare. And he thinks he knows about what it is. He woke him up and Mac calmed down. After an hour he went back to sleep.

In the morning Jack made himself some coffee. He was the first one to get up. He turned on the TV and watched some NFL. Until his phone rang. It’s Sarah Adler.

“Sarah?”

“Jack. I think I have something you want to hear.”

“About what?” Jack asks.

“About Nikki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! :D Im gonna take a break maybe for like 2-3 days.


	8. Justice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for taking so long to update. I was watching Lucifer and thought i should finish it first and then go back to writing. But finally here is chapter 8 :D If you enjoy leave a kudos and a comment

“What…what about Nikki?” Jack asks.

“We can’t talk over the phone. Can I meet you at the Phoenix?” Sarah asks.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be right there.” Jack says.

“Okay, and bring everyone.” Sarah says and she hangs up. _‘Finally, a lead on Nikki’_ Jack says to himself. It’s been nearly 2 months since Nikki betrayed them. The techs back at Phoenix have been trying to find anything that can help them catch her, but they didn’t. But Sarah did. The CIA did. Jack jumps up from the couch and goes to wake up Mac.

“Mac.” He whispers. He doesn’t move. He goes and shakes him a bit. “Mac, wake up.” Mac turns his head towards him with his eyes barely open. “Time for work.” Jack says. Mac groans.

“What’s going on?” Mac asks as he stretches.

“Sarah has information on Nikki. She said to meet her at Phoenix.” Jack says. Mac glances at him with his eyes fully open now. Then he jumps up and gets dressed. He gets ready as fast as he could. He wanted to catch Nikki so she can rot in the darkest, deepest hole they could put her in, after what she did.

Mac gets out of the room, with his usual clothes on. His jacket, shirt and jeans. “Here.” He hears Jack say. He turns around and he sees Jack throwing him an energy bar.

“Thanks.” Mac replies. No time to make food. They have a virus to find. “Let’s go.” Mac says as he puts on his shoes.

“We’ll get her, right?” Jack asks. Mac gives him a stare. Jack can only see rage in those eyes.

“You damn right we are.” Mac says. Mac is not gonna give up until they have Nikki and that virus. If that virus gets released, millions will die, and means that Reese died for nothing. The whole drive to the Phoenix was quiet. Jack looking ahead of him focusing on the road, while Mac was looking outside the window thinking about everything that can happen in this mission.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

Riley and Diane settled in their room yesterday. They decided that they are gonna stay here for one week. Of course they would not go to their apartment when a hitman that kidnapped Riley is still out there looking for an opportunity to attack. They had dinner…well, Diane had dinner. Riley didn’t eat anything. She just stared at her food. She was still shook from what happened, so if she put anything in her mouth, she will throw it up in minutes.

Sleeping wasn’t great aswell. Diane was woken up three times in the middle of the night by Riley. She was whispering and shouting “Don’t kill him; Mac!; Let me go, please; Please…;” and other stuff. She had tears on her cheeks while she was still sleeping and shouting. Diane gently shook her, and she would jump out of bed, shaking and covering her face. When she saw that Diane was with her, she hugged her and sobbed until she was feeling sleepy again. That is gonna go on for a while.

In the morning, Matty gave them a tour. Now that they know everything, why not? And Matty is glad that they understand why they should keep this a secret. And she is considering giving them a job offer here. Matty knows Riley is good with computers (but she doesn’t know how good) and Diane can help with technology too. When you have a technology genius as your daughter, how can you not learn things. And she can learn a lot more during her work. Matty showed them the lab, the tech room, the war room and that’s where they stopped.

“Here, I communicate and give the agents intel on the mission that they go on. We have this big screen where we watch the action that is going on.” Matty says.

“So…you watch Jack here?” Diane asks. Matty nods.

“Listen, Ms. Davis. Jack is one of the best agents I have ever worked with. He can be annoying sometimes…” Diane chuckles “…but when it comes to getting the job done, he is always 100%.” Matty says. Then she glances at Riley, who is looking around the room. She spots a bowl full of paperclips on the table.

“What’s with all the paperclips?” Riley asks.

“Them? Well…those are for Mac. Everytime we are in here he takes a couple and makes shapes. It’s a habit of his. He says it helps him think, makes him happy, it makes him forget about everything bad.” Matty says. _‘That’s what he said to me too.’_ Riley says to herself. She reaches into her pocket and takes out the heart shaped paperclip that Mac gave her when they went on a walk. She always kept it with here. Everywhere she goes.

“Did he gave you that?” Diane asks. Riley just nods while glancing at the love heart. Diane and Matty exchange smiles. That’s when the door blast open.

Mac made two shapes from paperclips in the car. One is a broken heart, and the other one is a pair of handcuffs. They called Leanna and Bozer to come to the Phoenix ASAP. When Mac and Jack arrived at the Phoenix, they meet up with Sarah at the parking.

“So, what do you got?” Jack asks. Sarah just shows a USB in her hand. Mac, Jack and Sarah get in the Phoenix and the blast into the war room. “Matty, Sarah here has information about Nikki. And possibly the virus.” Jack says and then he realizes that Riley and Diane are in the room. _‘Great…’_

“Virus?” Diane asks.

“Well, it’s not a secret now, so, yes.” Jack says. Leanna and Bozer arrive in the war room.

“We came as fast as we could. What’s going on?” Leanna asks.

“This is what’s going on.” Jack says as he shows the USB to Leanna. “Plug it in. There is information about Nikki and possibly the virus. Sarah, if you do the honors.” Leanna plugs in the USB and connects the laptop to the big screen. Diane and Riley were just sitting in the far back corner of the room.

“Alright, nine hours ago the CIA intercepted a message about a meeting for a sale. The item being sold…is the virus you guys lost. This sale is going down in 3 hours in a warehouse outside of Atlanta. The name of the woman is an alias who has been traced back to Nikki Carpenter.” Sarah says as a picture of Nikki comes up on the screen. Mac looks away and clenches his fists.

“Nikki made a deal with an international terrorist called the Red Viper.” Sarah says. Red Viper is one of the most dangerous international terrorists out there. Responsible for thousands of deaths. When they had a chance to catch him, nobody succeeded.

They all exchange looks, except for Mac who was looking down and listening carefully.

“I need your help. This is probably our only chance to catch Nikki and bring back that virus.” Sarah says. Riley sees Mac, his clenched fists shaking, he looks furious. She is thinking he’s gonna burst any second. But he just turns around and leaves the room.

“Where’s he going?” Sarah asks.

“Him? He’s going to the airport to the Phoenix jet, go to Atlanta, catch Nikki and get the virus.” Matty says with a smile. “You better catch up with him. Leanna, go with them.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Leanna replies. She and Sarah leave the room while Jack goes over to Diane and Riley. He and Diane are looking at each other for a bit, not saying anything. Then Diane gives him a hug and whispers

“You better come back.”

“I will. I love you.” Jack says.

“I love you too.” Diane replies. Jack then focuses on Riley. They stare at each other for a bit like Jack did with Diane, and Riley does what her mother did. She gave Jack a big hug, hoping he will come back. Jack kisses her forehead and leaves to catch up with the others.

“Um…why was Mac so angry?” Riley asks Matty. Matty meets her eyes and then looks down.

“Well…before we recruited Jack, we had agent Reese on our team. Mac and he were like best friends. Then…Reese lost his life while on a mission in Italy. That broke Mac. And that night they also lost the virus. We got the virus back three months later. Nikki then stole the virus and betrayed us. We…we thought she was one of us. But she works for a terrorist organization. And when Mac learned that Nikki was the reason that Reese died, he was broken. He didn’t see anyone for a whole week.” Matty tells Riley. Riley can’t imagine how Mac felt about all of this.

“So…he wasn’t sick for a week…” Riley says. Matty nods. Riley glances at the picture of Nikki that’s on the screen. _‘She ruined Mac’._

_PHOENIX JET_

Jack and Sarah are having a conversation about their past missions together. Jack needed to get his mind off Nikki. Leanna was sitting, looking out the window with her headphones on. And Mac was in the bathroom. He was just starring in the mirror. He is filled with rage, anger, sadness, feeling betrayed. Nikki to be caught is one of the two important things, but Mac won’t stop until he takes down The Organization.

_“Give me the canister, or he dies.” Kendrick says. Mac is stuck. He doesn’t know what to do._

_“Don’t, Mac.” Reese says. Kendrick turns around and shoots him in the leg._

_“You son of a bitch!!” Mac shouts._

_“You think I’m playing? The canister. I will not ask you again.” Kendrick says. Mac slowly goes towards him and gives him the canister. “Thank you.” Kendrick says. Then he turns around and shoots Reese. The bullet went right through Reese’s heart, killing him instantly._

_“REESE!!!” Mac yells._

Mac lets out his anger and puts his right fist into the mirror, breaking the glass. There is blood, but it’s just little cuts. But a lot of them. Obviously, Jack, Sarah and Leanna heard it and they came to the door.

“Mac! You alright?” Jack asks as he pounds on the door. Mac opens the door and Jack sees the cuts on his hand. “Man…what did you…” he trails off as he sees glass everywhere. He then glances at the mirror.

“Come here. Let me clean you up.” Leanna says. Mac follows her, not lifting his head up. Even though Jack didn’t make eye contact, he could see a tear on his cheek. Jack lets out a big sigh.

“What was that about?” Sarah asks Jack.

“Mac lost his partner a while back, when they were in Italy to get the virus. And then we found out that Nikki was the reason he died. He…was angry, hurt. I’ve never seen him like that before.” Jack says. “But I know he’s not gonna give up until we get the virus and catch Nikki.” Mac is lost in his thoughts while Leanna is cleaning his cuts. Leanna is like a sister to Mac. She’s always there for him. Like now.

Mac is remembering all the good times he had with Reese. Nikki was joining them from time to time after missions. The three of them with Leanna, Bozer and Matty celebrating at Mac’s house after a successful mission. _‘Good times’._ Then the mission in Italy came and after that it was all gone. Mac can’t believe that Nikki was fooling them for a whole year. Who knows what she was doing those 3 months after Reese’s death. And everytime she rejected Mac when he asked her to hang out, or when she didn’t come to his place after a mission.

“Are you okay?” Leanna asks. That brought Mac to the present. He glances at her and it takes him a while before he nods.

“I will be, when we get the virus and catch Nikki.” Mac replies.

“We will. We will do everything.” Leanna says.

“Whatever it takes.” Mac says. What he means is if it comes to him sacrificing he will not hesitate. Leanna knows exactly what he means, and before she tells him to not be stupid, Jack comes over.

“Pilot says we’re landing in 10 minutes. You ready?” Jack asks. Mac gives him an answer with the look he gives Jack. Jack smiles cause with the look Mac gave him, he knows Mac is more than ready.

_WAREHOUSE, OUTSIDE OF ATLANTA_

They arrive at the warehouse 15 minutes before the meeting. That was the plan. Get there before the bad guys, take positions.

“Place looks abandoned.” Leanna says. She checks her laptop screen to see if there is anybody inside. “No heat signatures detected. There’s nobody inside.”

“I got a bad feeling about this.” Jack says. “There was this movie I watched called “13 hours in a warehouse”…” Jack shakes his head “no, screw that movie. I bet this warehouse is haunted.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely haunted.” Leanna says sarcastically while looking at the screen. She still had the heat signature detector on.

“What…you find something on your laptop?” Jack asks with fear in his voice. _‘The last thing I need is to be in a warehouse with ghosts.’_ Jack is afraid of ghosts. A lot. Leanna laughs from how scared Jack is. “Very funny.” Jack says.

“Well it is kind of funny.” Leanna says while laughing. Sarah cracked a small smile, and Riley, Bozer, Diane and Matty were in the war room listening, they were also laughing. But not Mac. Diane and Riley refused to leave the war room because they wanted to see Jack. Matty didn’t want to argue, and since they know their secret, they let them stay for this mission only.

While everyone was laughing and making fun of Jack, Mac was glancing at the warehouse and looking around for potential threats. He didn’t see anything unusual. A lot of barrels, junk, car parts. Plus, it was far away from Atlanta. So if you want to make a deal and buy a 30000 year old deadly virus that could kill millions, this would be the perfect place. The warehouse had no cameras, obviously. There were no houses near, except one a bit away from the warehouse. That’s where Matty, Riley and Diane are watching from. They had a view of the warehouse and the road to see when Nikki and the buyer are gonna arrive.

“Okay, we have 15 minutes till the meeting. Let’s go inside and take positions.” Mac says as he walks towards the warehouse. Leanna follows him. Sarah is with Jack behind them. Sarah turns off her comms and tells Jack to do the same.

“What’s up?” Jack asks.

“I’m getting married.” Sarah replies. Jack glances at her with raised eyebrows. Then a big smile grows on his face.

“Really? Congratulations!” Jack says as he hugs her. “Jim is a lucky guy.”

“Jeff.” Sarah says.

“Jeff…right.” Jack says. Sarah starts laughing as they enter the warehouse. Inside was very empty. There was just barrels. It stinks, there was mold almost everywhere. The warehouse had two floors. The place was massive. .

“I’m getting some “this place is haunted” vibes right now.” Jack says.

“Of course you are.” Sarah says.

“Alright, two floors. Me and Leanna will go on the top floor.” Mac says. “You two stay down.”

“Copy.” Jack replies. Mac and Leanna make their way to the top.

“Smells like gasoline.” Leanna says. Mac noticed that too when they entered the warehouse.

“Jack, does it smell like gasoline down there?” Mac asks.

“Yeah, homie. A lot.” Jack replies.

“Guys, you got two SUVs approaching the warehouse.” Matty says. _‘Two?’_ He hears the SUVs stop outside and multiple doors open. _‘It’s a trap.’_

“Everybody out now!!” Mac yells. He pushes Leanna in front of him. Jack and Sarah start running towards the door. They hear glass breaking. Mac sees lighters hitting the ground and everything is on fire. Looks like Jack and Sarah got out cause Mac can hear gunshots outside. He and Leanna were still inside.

“Mac, Leanna, get out of there!” Bozer says.

“We trying!!” Mac shouts. Thankfully he spots a clear way to the door where there is no fire. He takes Leanna’s hand and runs outside only to find themselves in the middle of a gun fight. They run behind the side wall of the warehouse, thankfully not getting hit. Looks like Jack and Sarah had the same idea.

“Nice of you to join us.” Sarah says. Leanna takes out her gun and starts shooting. There were 8 bad guys, one of them dressed in a suit. _‘Probably their boss. He might know where Nikki is.’_

“What happened?” Jack asks.

“We got made, that’s what happened. Nikki tricked us.” Mac says. They couldn’t waste time with these guys, so Mac looks around to see if he can use something. He finds two big sized water bottles and stuff for him to make 2 bombs. And he gets to work.

“I’m running out of bullets here.” Leanna says.

“30 seconds.” Mac shouts.

“You know…this so reminds me of Belarus.” Jack says to Sarah.

“Please, don’t.” Sarah says as she takes a couple of shots. Mac finishes what he is doing. He shakes up the bottles. _‘2 bombs 2 cars.’_

“Cover me.” Mac says. They all start shooting and Mac comes out from cover. He throws the bombs at the cars and his aim was perfect. The cars go up in flames flying a bit in the air. The explosion knocks the bad guys out.

“Good job, brother.” Jack says. Mac nods and heads to the van so he can grab some zip ties. Jack takes the guy in the suit and takes him in the back off the van. Mac and Sarah put the zip ties on the bad guys while Leanna ID’s the guy.

“Alright, his name is Peter Johnson. A lot of criminal records. Murders, kidnappings, drugs.” Leanna says. Jack throws a punch in Peter’s right cheek waking him up.

“Good morning, fancy pants.” Jack says. Leanna sets her phone down in front of Peter cause the war room called for a video call. Matty wanted to do the questioning. Diane and Riley saw Jack’s punch. _‘He does that almost everyday?’_

“Peter Johnson. Born in 1975 in Paducah, Kentucky, 41 years old. That’s one hell of a criminal record you got there Peter.” Matty says.  
“Now, I’m gonna ask you some questions, and you are gonna answer them truthfully if you don’t want any trouble. Where is Nikki Carpenter and the virus?” Matty asks. Peter stays silent. He’s just looking at the ground. Mac and Sarah finished with the bad guys and arrive at the van.

“He’s not talking?” Mac asks. Jack shakes his head. Mac steps in the van and punches the guy two times. He grabs him by the suit. “Where is Nikki Carpenter?” Mac asks with a raised voice. Riley is shocked by Mac’s behavior. Jack kneels beside Mac and glances at Peter.

“Listen, pal. If I leave you with him, you’re gonna be wishing your mother never met your father. So, you gonna cooperate?” Jack asks. Peter glances at him and starts laughing. Jack pats Mac’s back. “Have fun, bro.” Jack says. He turns around and takes the phone. “You guys won’t want to see and hear this, so…we’ll call you when we know more.” Jack says and he hangs up.

_10 MINUTES LATER_

Riley, Bozer, Matty and Diane were still waiting for the others to call them. Before Jack hung up, they heard a punch and a small scream of pain that was cut off when the call ended. It’s been 10 minutes and they have no idea what’s happening there. Mac, Jack, Leanna and Sarah turned off their comms. The camera they are watching that’s from the house, can’t get a clear view to the van because of a fence.

“Has Mac ever been like this?” Riley asks with a shaky voice.

“Never.” Bozer replies. Bozer’s never seen Mac this way. But he doesn’t blame him. Bozer would have done the same thing Mac did. Doing whatever it takes to make things right.

They hear a phone ringing. But it’s not anybody’s phone, it’s the big screen. And it’s Jack calling. Matty answers and Leanna appears on the screen. They catch a glimpse of Peter in the backround laying on the ground with blood all over his face. Riley tries not to throw up. Then they see Mac wiping the blood of his hands with a napkin.

“Mac…what did you do?” Matty asks.

“You really want me to answer that question?” Mac asks while glancing at his hands.

“No. What did he tell you?” Matty asks.

“He told us that Nikki is trying to flee the country. We don’t know if the virus is with her, but we do know the name of the private airport. So, hopefully with Jack’s driving skills, we might get there in time.” Leanna replies. Jack is focusing on the road, passing every car that’s in his way. Until he sees a familiar face on the side mirror of a car.

“Or just catch up with her while she’s going to the airport.” Jack says and Mac goes to see what he’s talking about. “I got Nikki in front of me.”

“Okay, try a PIT maneuver.” Mac says. Jack gives a bit more throttle and now has an opportunity to shove Nikki of the road. When he turns and is about to make contact, Nikki rams the throttle and she’s off in front of him. Jack tries to gain control of the van cause they were about to run off the road. Thankfully, Nikki’s car is old and there’s not much difference in speed between her car and their van.

Nikki and Jack dodge cars and are doing over 100 MPH on a public road. It’s weird that there are no cops in this area. Nikki moves to the opposite lane of the road to pass a car. She’s side by side with the car, but sees a car approaching in front of her. She thinks fast and turns into the car next to her. The car that was next to her loses control, goes off the road and digs in the dirt which results in multiple flips. The car stopped flipping, only to caught fire and explode right in front of their faces with civilians inside.

That makes Jack even more furious. People died because of their mess. Jack uses the slipstream from Nikki’s car to reduce the gap between them, and slams the back of the car. Nikki loses control, but she takes advantage of it and drifts around a corner.

“Oh, come on!!” Jack shouts as he follows her. Nikki was a good driver. Once she told Mac and the others that she was so close to becoming a race car driver when she was young. Who knows if that was true.

Jack is doing his best to run her off the road, but nothing is working. He couldn’t get in front of her, or beside her. But Sarah has an idea. She takes out her gun and leans out of the window. She aims for the tires, but Nikki notices that and starts weaving. But Sarah is a great shot, she just needs a little concentration and…she shoots. She hits that rear right tire and Nikki goes spinning. Not only that, she goes on the grass and hits a tree with the back of the car. Jack stops the van.

“You couldn’t have done that earlier?” Jack asks. Sarah smiles while glancing at him and gets out of the van. Mac follows her. Sarah opens the door and drags Nikki out who is kind of lost because of the crash. Mac looks at her the way he looks at someone who he wants to kill. Like Murdoc maybe.

“Where’s the virus?” Sarah asks as she grabs Nikki by the shirt. Nikki stays silent. She just glances at all of them. “Talk or I’m gonna shove a stick so far up your ass you’ll be able to see it when you yawn.” Sarah says with a raised voice. _‘Damn.’_

Nikki glances at Mac with an evil smile. “How are you Mac? You missed me that much, have you? I’m sure you did everything just so you can find me. Have you visited Reese? I’m…” Nikki couldn’t finish cause Sarah throws a right hook in her face. While Nikki was talking, Mac started walking fast towards her, only to be stopped by Jack.

“Where. Is. The virus?” Sarah asks. Nikki doesn’t say anything, she just spits out some blood from her mouth. Leanna started searching the car and found something she didn’t want to find.

“Guys…” Leanna says as she shows them a bag full of money. Mac’s heart stops. Jack swallows hard and Sarah looks at the bag with fear. _‘No, no, no.’_

“Where is the virus?” Mac yells. Sarah lifts Nikki and hits her with another punch. Leanna finds something else in the bag aswell.

“Guys, I got an USB over here. And I bet, it has everything we need to know.” Leanna says as she opens her backpack.

“Yeah, but…good luck cracking that. I’ve taught you a lot of things Leanna, but not all.” Nikki says with a smile. Leanna doesn’t say anything. She takes her laptop and opens it. She plugs in the USB and gets to work.

“How could you do that? You let Reese die!” Mac says glancing at Nikki. “He did not deserve to die!” Nikki just shrugs with the same smile she had ever since they got her. “Was…was everything a lie?” Mac asks. Nikki scoffs. Leanna sighs in frustration.

“I can’t crack this.” Leanna says and Nikki chuckles.

“Shut it!” Sarah says.

“Okay…now what do we do?” Matty asks.

“We make her talk.” Jack replies. Then they hear Riley’s voice.

“Um…can I try…and crack it?” Riley asks. Bozer, Diane and Matty glance at her. Mac knows Riley can hack stuff, be she never mentioned how good she was.

“You think you can crack it, Ri?” Jack asks.

“Riley?” Nikki asks and starts laughing. “Yeah, right.”

“I don’t know, but let me try.” Riley says glancing at Matty. Matty looks at her and nods.

“You heard her.” Matty says.

“Alright Riley, I’m sending you the files.” Leanna says. Riley receives the files and starts typing. These guys know a lot of things about Riley, but nobody knows about The Collective. This situation reminds her of that, but she needs to focus because millions of lives are at stake. It took her 3 minutes but she cracked them.

“Done.” Riley says with a smile. Matty can’t believe it. Maybe giving her a job here isn’t a bad idea. And maybe they can train her so she could be in the field one day. Well…if she wants to.

“Nice job, Riley.” Bozer says with a grin and puts a hand on her shoulder. Diane kisses her on the forehead.

“That’s my girl.” Jack says.

“She cracked them?” Nikki asks. They don’t answer, they just smile at her.

“Enjoy rotting in prison for the rest of your life.” Sarah says as she puts one cuff on Nikki’s hand and the other on the door handle of the car.

“Being evil has a price.” Mac says. Nikki looks at him with anger. She just lost. Mac caught her, now it’s just the virus left. “Alright Matty, what do you got?”

“Virus is gonna be released tomorrow in Skopje, Macedonia.” Matty says.

“Talk about a random location.” Jack says.

“Yeah…well, get your asses to the airport. You have a 12 hour flight.” Matty says. They all get in the van leaving Nikki cuffed to the car. Mac took everything she can use to unlock those cuffs. So she had no chance.

“Thank you, Riley.” Mac says. Mac can’t see it but Riley’s smile grew bigger.

“You’re welcome, Mac.” She replies.

_PHOENIX JET_

They flew from an airport 7 hours ago, so only 5 hours left until they arrive in Macedonia. Red Viper could have picked any country around the world, and he chose Macedonia. This is gonna be the first time they go to Macedonia. It’s a very small country. Population only 2 million. Yes, there are lot of countries that are not popular, but they didn’t expect Macedonia at all. That was Red Viper’s plan it looks like.

It was 2 AM and everyone except Mac was sleeping. He was making paperclip figures ever since they took off. He needed to stay calm cause he thinks about every way that this can end badly. They can’t let Red Viper release that virus. Now the bigger problem is that they don’t have any idea where or when Red Viper is gonna release that virus. But they know what he looks like, so the traffic cameras are gonna be useful.

Some turbulence wakes up Leanna. She stretches and looks around. The turbulence didn’t wake up Jack and Sarah. She sees Mac looking out the window while fiddling with a paperclip. She stands up and goes to sit across from him.

“You know, I never thought you were one of those people that sleep only twice a week.” Leanna says with a smile.

“Kind of hard to sleep when you know that there’s a deadly virus out there.” Mac says.

“Well…now we know where it is thanks to Riley.” Leanna says. Mac cracks a small smile while looking outside the window. _‘She would be perfect in the team.’_ Mac says to himself. “With her skills, she would be perfect at the Phoenix.” Mac glances at her. It’s like she red his mind. But then Mac remembers that Riley is pissed at him and she doesn’t even talk to him.

“She hates me. She doesn’t even talk to me.” Mac says while glancing at the paperclip in his hands.

“She doesn’t hate you, Mac.” Leanna says. “She is just angry. Getting kidnapped by a hitman out of nowhere because he wants you dead is a big deal. She needs time to process.” Leanna says. And she’s right. Riley’s gonna remember Murdoc for the rest of her life. And he is out there somewhere.

“I just…feel guilty.” Mac says.

“Well don’t.” Leanna adds. Mac sets down the paperclip on the table in front of him shaped like the canister of the deadly virus.

_SKOPJE, MACEDONIA_

They arrived at the airport in Skopje. Beautiful clear skies above them, perfect warm weather. And they have to make sure it stays that way. Leanna opens her laptop and starts searching for Red Viper. They grabbed a coffee and they waited. They couldn’t do anything else. Jack is looking around seeing ads about some Macedonian food. And by the looks of the meals, his mouth gets watery.

“Really want to try some Macedonian food.” Jack says. They all glance at him. “What? It looks delicious.”

“Anything Leanna?” Mac asks. His patience is fading.

“Nothing yet.” She replies. Mac’s leg starts bouncing. He hates it when he can’t do anything. He lets out a deep sigh.

“Hey, Mac, you want some…. I can’t even read that…never mind.” Jack says. He’s still looking at the ads. _‘At least he’s distracted.’_ Leanna speaks up which made Mac jump.

“Got him.” Leanna says. “He just entered _City Mall_.”

“Okay, we’ve been here for 2 hours. So…it must be full. We need to go, now.” Mac says as he stands up. They all follow him. They get to City Mall. And it was big. Not big like the US malls big, but big enough to be hard to find Red Viper and the virus.

“Is he really planning to release the virus in there?” Jack asks.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” Mac says and he walks towards the entrance. Jack, Leanna and Sarah follow him. When they get inside, Sarah immediately hits the fire alarm. The alarm starts ringing and everyone starts heading for the exit.

“Matty, where is he?” Jack asks. Matty, Riley, Bozer and Diane are watching from the cameras inside the Mall.

“Top floor.” Matty replies.

“I’ll go. You take care of his friends.” Mac says. He starts running up the escalator. But Jack follows him. This Mall had 3 floors. Red Viper was on the third floor. But like the other people, he starts going down. That’s when Mac spots him on the escalator. They make eye contact, and Red Viper turns around and starts running back up. Mac storms off after him.

Red Viper’s partners didn’t get a chance to go back up, so Jack, Leanna and Sarah had a little fun with them. Jack took 3, Sarah 2 and Leanna 2 while Mac went up and started chasing Red Viper. Red Viper could easily take a gun out and shoot at Mac, but Red Viper didn’t have any guns. Jack knocks out one guy, but the other two knock him down to the ground. He gets up quickly and sees two guns pointed at him. He takes cover quickly, only to be grazed on the shoulder. He takes out his gun and starts shooting too. Sarah and Leanna do the same.

The people that are still getting out and are on the bottom floor, started screaming when they heard gunshots.

“Just another Tuesday.” Jack says. He gets out of cover and shoots at the 2 men. He takes cover again and that’s when he smells something weird. And then he realizes it. “What the…” he peeks out and sees an electronic store on fire.

“Shit! Fire!” Jack shouts. Sarah and Leanna glance at the store and see that the fire is spreading pretty fast. The bad guys run down the escalators. Jack, Sarah and Leanna follow them. They can’t let them escape. Jack and Sarah shoot 2 of them and get in a fight with the other 2. So does Jack with the men he had a shootout.

Mac was still on the third floor chasing Red Viper. He sees the fire is going up the escalator and he thinks quick. He takes out his knife and throws it at Red Viper. The knife goes in the back of Red Viper’s leg. He lets out a scream of pain and falls down. The canister hits the ground and that’s when Mac’s heart stops. But thankfully, the canister didn’t break. It just slides to the back wall. Red Viper takes out the knife from his leg. He stands up and turns towards Mac. He smiles and starts running towards the canister. But this time Mac was faster and not injured. He tackles Red Viper and punches him in the face.

Sarah and Leanna knock out the 4 men they were battling with. Jack knocks out one guy but the other one got outside. Jack followed him quickly. He sees a crowd outside watching City Mall burning. Next to him he sees a bike on the ground with the front tire broken. Somebody crashed it looks like. _‘That must have been painful.’_ He sees that the bad guy is not very far in front of him, so he picks up the tire and throws it at the bad guy, hitting him in the head. Jack runs towards him and puts on a zip tie. He sees Sarah running towards him.

“See…didn’t have to chase him at all. They got “tired”.” Jack says with a smile. Sarah sighs and shakes her head. “Oh come on, I thought that was one of my better puns.” He hears the fire fighters coming. They need to stop them. “Mac.” No response. “Mac? Mac, do you copy?” Again no answer. “Matty, Mac’s not answering. Is he okay?” Jack asks sounding worried.

Matty cycles through the cameras on the top floor and sees that Mac is fighting with Red Viper. “Jack, Mac is fighting with Red Viper. He probably lost his comms.”

“He needs to get out of there. I’m going in to help.” Jack says as he starts walking towards the entrance.

“Jack, wait, you need to stop the fire fighters. That virus is still in there.” Matty says. Jack is angry but Matty is right. He turns towards the fire fighters.

“Alright boys, back up. You can’t go inside.” Jack says.

The fire fighter says something in Macedonian that translate to “Sir, please move.” But Jack didn’t understand what he said.

“Huh? Alright, who knows English here?” Jack asks. A fire fighter raises a hand. “You…please tell your buddies that there is a deadly virus inside that building and you can’t go inside.” Jack says.

“And who are you?” The fire fighter asks.

“We’re American agents. Now back up.” Jack says. The fire fighters slowly do that.

“Guys, you are not gonna like this, but you have to stay with them so they don’t get any ideas about going inside.” Matty says. So Mac is alone, in a burning building, with an international terrorist and a deadly virus. When those things come to Riley’s mind she has to speak up.

“Can’t you like…do something with the Macedonian government so they can order the fire fighters to stand down so that Jack, Leanna and Sarah can go and help him? Mac is alone in a burning building with a deadly virus, for God’s sake.” Riley says with a shaky voice. Diane goes to her and guides her to a chair. Matty glances at her.

“Riley, there is nothing I can do. It’s all up to Mac.” Matty says. Riley doesn’t say anything, she just covers her face with her hands.

Mac is sweating. There is fire around him and it’s still spreading. It was getting hard to breath. He needed to defeat Red Viper before the fire reaches the canister. Mac wasn’t focusing on Red Viper and that’s why he received a right hook in his left cheek. He falls down to the ground.

“You’re weak.” Red Viper says as he gets on top of Mac and starts punching him in the face. Mac is bleeding, from his nose, mouth, his eyebrows. His eye is swollen. And he has no energy. _‘Reese, I need you brother.’_ Red Viper stops punching so he can catch his breath. Mac can’t move. He keeps coughing and spitting out blood.

“When I release that virus, I will enjoy how you and millions others are going to suffer. First you’re gonna be weak, cough, sneeze…the usual stuff. But then you’re gonna feel like your chest is burning, then you’re gonna puke blood…a lot of blood.” Red Viper says with a laugh. “And I’m gonna enjoy every single second of it.” He adds as he raises his hand for a final punch. But before the fist hits Mac’s cheek, Mac catches his fist and stops it.

Red Viper is in shock. His eyes focused on the fist that is caught by Mac. With his eyes wide, he then glances at Mac, who is staring at him with the most deadliest stare ever. Mac leans up and head butts Red Viper. Red Viper falls backwards and Mac gets up. He grabs Red Viper by his shirt, lifts him up and smacks him against the wall.

“The only one that’s gonna suffer my friend, is you.” Mac says with a growl. He punches Red Viper and throws him on the floor. He tries to get up but Mac is too quick. He kicks him in the back and then in the ribs. He then stops so Red Viper can get up.

“Come on! Get up!!” Mac yells. He yells so loud that the war room heard his voice over the fires. Red Viper slowly gets up. When he is up on his feet, Mac charges and jumps. Midair he raises his leg and with his right foot he hits Red Viper in the chest. Red Viper stumbles backwards and falls off the edge to land on the second floor. It was a big drop so some bones broke, making it impossible to get up. And that is not what he wanted, because he landed in the fire.

Mac looks off the edge to see Red Viper not moving in the fire, screaming so loud in pain. He can’t look anymore at the horror. He tries to ignore the screams and searches for the canister. It was hard to see from the smoke and the fire. So he runs against the walls because the canister landed against one of the walls. In the middle of the search, he finds his knife that’s covered in blood.

The screams stop so that only means one thing. Mac continues searching and he finds the canister. It’s not damaged, it’s not leaking. _‘Thank God.’_ He puts it in his jacket. But now, how does he get down? The escalators are on fire and that’s the only way down. Mac looks around so he can find something. He sees a closet. He runs towards it and gets inside. He searches for anything to get him down, and he finds two ropes. _‘Perfect!’_

He ties the rope to the cylinder wall and throws the other end off the edge. He slowly climbs down on the second floor. He does the same thing on the second floor. When he’s halfway down the electronics store blows up. It was a massive explosion. Thankfully the store was on the other side of the mall, but that shook the rope and now Mac’s losing grip.

“Guys, Mac is coming down with the virus.” Matty says. Riley looks up on the screen and sees that it’s true. Mac did it. She stands up and hugs her mom. Jack and Sarah share a hug and then Leanna joins in.

“Never doubted him for a second.” Leanna says. And when she said that, there was a huge explosion on the second floor. The crowd watching all gasps and shout. Jack’s heart drops in his stomach. Is the virus released now?

“Matty….what was that?” Jack asks with a shaky voice. Riley puts her hand on her mouth as tears escape from her eyes.

“Um…looks like the electronics store blew up.” Matty replies.

“But Mac made it down right?” Jack asks with a raised voice.

“I…I don’t know, Jack.” Matty replies. Jack starts walking towards the entrance of the mall. He hears Sarah and Leanna shout at him but he doesn’t stop. But he sees a figure walking out of the building. ‘ _Mac._ ’ Mac walks out from the fiery building perfectly fine. Well, his face was a big mess. Blood all over it, his cheek with a big bruise, he has a black eye. But he looks fine.

“That’s your Phoenix right there.” Jack says referring to how Mac just walked out so casually out of a burning building. Riley laughs from happiness while tears stream down her cheeks. “Nice makeup.” Jack says with a smile. Mac grins and punches him in the shoulder playfully.

“Where’s the virus?” Leanna asks. Mac pats the spot on his jacket where the virus is.

“My man saving the world in style.” Jack says. “Where’s Red Viper?”

Mac shakes his head. “You don’t want to know.” He replies.

“Can we just…go home please?” Leanna asks.

“Absolutely.” Mac replies.

_MAC’S HOUSE_

Mac, Jack, Leanna, Bozer, Matty and Sarah go to Mac’s house after a successful mission once again. Mac is so exhausted he feels like he could collapse any time. But they all go at the fire place with a couple of beers.

“Well, guys, congratulations. You got the virus back, Nikki will be in a supermax for a long time, and the Red Viper is history.” Matty says.

“Yeah. And thank you Sarah. We could not have done it without you.” Jack says glancing at her. Sarah nods and smiles.

“But…this is not over until we take down The Organization. And we’re not gonna stop until we do it.” Mac says as he raises his hand that’s holding the beer.

“Hell yeah!” Jack says with a grin.

_1 HOUR LATER_

Everybody left and Mac was alone with his bruised cheek, black eye, bruised ribs. He takes off his shirt and lays down on the couch shirtless. He groans from the pain of his bruised ribs. He’s holding a bag of frozen peas on his bruised cheek. He reaches for the remote and barely grabs it. Then he hears the front door open.

“One of you forgot something?” Mac asks. There was no answer. He hears footsteps approaching. _‘What if it’s Murdoc.’_ Mac thought. He quickly tries to get up but a familiar voice that he knows and loves speaks up.

“Wait, Mac. Don’t you move.” Riley says. Mac glances at her and sees how wide her eyes are when she sees his face and his bruised ribs.

“What, do I have something on my face?” Mac asks sarcastically with a smile. He lays down again. Riley goes and kneels down next to him. She can’t take her eyes off his bruises.

“Are you okay?” She asks with a shaky whisper.

Mac scoffs. “You should see the other guy. Actually you shouldn’t. That would be a bad idea.” Mac says. Riley very softly runs a finger on the big bruise on his ribs and he hisses. She immediately removes the finger. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m complaining.” He says with a smile.

Riley chuckles. “I came here for support. If you need anything, I’m here.”

“Thank you, Riley.” Mac says. “And um…” he takes her hand “I’m really really sorry. I shouldn’t have lied to you. I should have told you everything. And…” Mac says but he was interrupted by Riley.

“Mac…don’t. I understand why you didn’t tell me. You don’t have to say sorry.” She says with a smile. He puts his hand on her cheek and she leans into his touch.

“Have I ever told you how amazing you are?” Mac asks. Riley blushes and looks down. Then she carefully hugs him, not to make him hiss, or worse.

Riley stayed until very late at Mac’s house. She went and brought dinner for both of them. Riley would do anything for Mac, just like she knows that Mac would do anything for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I'll try and update as soon as i can :D


	9. Scissors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all. Sorry i took so long to update this fic, but i have been very busy with college. I'll try and update as soon as I can. So, enjoy, if you liked it leave a kudos, and a comment :D

Christmas. The holiday that everyone loves. The holiday where the families gather and have a great, beautiful time. The holiday where Bozer makes pastrami. Pastrami on Christmas? Come on, Bozer. Jack, Mac, Bozer and Leanna were at Mac’s house, now taking a break from decorating, setting up the Christmas tree, and Mac’s invention. He has a surprise for Riley since Jack told him she never had a white Christmas. And by white, he means snowy.

Mac and Jack are sitting on the couch while Bozer and Leanna are in the kitchen. They hear Bozer say “Now, pay attention. I’m about to drop some serious meat knowledge.”

“I hate to be in Leanna’s place right now.” Mac says.

“Dude, pastrami on Christmas?” Jack asks.

“Only Bozer.” Mac replies with a laugh. Then they hear Bozer say something in Mexican. Mac knows Mexican, but Jack…no.

“What did he say? Dude, I don’t speak “Taco Bell”.” Jack says. Mac bursts out a laughter.

“I can’t believe that made me laugh.” Mac says.

“All my jokes make you laugh. You just keep holding it in. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.” Jack says as he smiles. Okay, Mac knows that that isn’t true. But he doesn’t want to hurt Jack’s feelings so he remains quiet.

“Are you really gonna make it snow tonight for Riley?” Jack asks with a grin.

“Yeah. After what happened with Murdoc, I want to do something right for her. And this seems like the perfect opportunity.” Mac says. Jack nods and looks Mac in the eyes. It doesn’t take him long to see that Mac really likes Riley. But Riley in a relationship with a secret agent? At that thought Jack’s smile fades but he remains quiet.

“Speaking of Riley, where is she with Diane?” Mac asks. Jack looks at his watch.

“Well…they should’ve been here an hour ago. She told me yesterday that they were gonna come here. Probably Diane trying to pick what to wear today.” Jack says and Mac chuckles. Jack grabbed his phone and called Diane. But no answer. He then called Riley, and no answer either.

“Everything okay?” Mac asks.

“They are not picking up. I’m gonna go and see what’s going on. I won’t be shocked if I find the whole bedroom tossed.” Jack says as he walks out of the house. Mac laughs and goes to the kitchen to find a lot of smoke. Then the fire alarm goes off as he sees Leanna waving her hands to clear out the smoke, but it’s no use. Bozer comes running for the balcony.

“What the hell happened?” Bozer asks.

“Um…kind of got distracted on my phone and forgot the sauce.” Leanna says trying to hide her face from embarrassment. Mac can’t stop laughing. _‘This Christmas is gonna be the best. I can feel it’._

_20 MINUTES LATER_

Mac is back to making his machine to make it snow, while Bozer and Leanna are setting up the light on the balcony. That’s when they hear the front door being open furiously.

“Guys!!” Jack shouts. Mac drops everything and runs into the living room, so does Bozer and Leanna.

“What is it?” Leanna asks. Jack is out of breath. Looks like he was running, but why?

“Riley and Diane…they are gone.” Jack says with fear in his voice.

“What do you mean gone?” Mac asks also worried now.

“Man, I went to the apartment and everything is turned upside down. The living room, the kitchen, everything!!” Jack says raising his voice at the end. “Their phones were on the ground!” Mac has a bad feeling about this. What if it’s Murdoc again?

“Do you think…” Bozer couldn’t finish the question but Jack knew what he was trying to ask.

“Yeah, I think It’s Murdoc. Who else would go after them?!” Jack shouts now. Mac sits down on the couch and buries his face in his hands. _‘Son of a bitch, not again…’_. That’s when Mac’s phone buzzes. He picks it up and sees that it’s a message from Matty.

“Matty needs us in the war room, now.” Mac says as he stands up and runs to put his shoes on.

“Now?! Man, my two most important people in the world are missing!!” Jack yells.

“Jack, calm down!” Mac shouts now. “This might be about Murdoc, so let’s get the hell over there, now!” Mac is furious right now. The next time he sees Murdoc, he might kill him. Mac is not that kind of a person, but Murdoc is different than any other bad guy Mac has faced. When Murdoc is free, a lot of people are in danger.

Jack does what Mac says and they all get in the car. Jack as always drives like a maniac, but how can he not? Diane and Riley might be in the hands of a murderous psychopath. They arrive in the war room and find Matty waiting for them with the windows fogged.

“Matty, please tell me this is about Murdoc. We think he has Diane and Riley.” Jack says.

“This is not about Murdoc.” Matty answers. Jack inhales and buries his face in his hands. “But Murdoc doesn’t have Riley and Diane.” When Jack heard that, his head shot up.

“How do you know?” Jack asks.

“Okay, pay attention.” Matty says as she walks up to the screen. She presses a button and a piece of paper comes up. Jack knows what it is. “Seven hours ago this was posted online.”

“This is a copy of an executive order giving the NSA to go-ahead to attack China with a cyberweapon.” Jack says as he glances at Matty.

“China responded by sending their entire submarine fleet into attack position in the Pacific.” Matty says as footage appears on the screen of submarines in the ocean. Jack is genuinely scared about this situation.

“Are you kidding me?” Jack says with a quiet voice. Mac raises his eyebrows.

“This imagery is live. Means these subs will be within attack range of our west coast within 24 hours.” Mac says.

“China’s message is clear. We attack them with a cyber weapon, they’ll hit us back with a conventional one.” Matty says.

“And we didn’t call of the cyberattack because…?” Mac asks.

“Because we can’t. This attack was unauthorized. This executive order is a fake.” Matty says. But she didn’t seem angry or something, but sad. _‘Why?’_ Mac thought.

“Have we tried telling China that?” Leanna asks.

“Yes, but they don’t believe us.” Matty replies.

“But we’re not really gonna attack them, so they are just racking up a lot of frequent mariner miles?” Bozer asks nervously.

“I wish it was that simple, Boze.” Matty says.

“Okay, but what does this have to do with Riley and Diane?” Jack asks with an angry voice.

“A few hours before the fake attack order was leaked, someone hacked the NSA and downloaded 200 gigs of data. We don’t even know what was stolen.” Matty answers.

“But you think someone stole a cyber weapon and is now using it to start a war.” Mac says.

“Matty, that didn’t answer my damn question!” Jack shouts. Matty takes a deep breath and lets out a shaky breath.

“The one who hacked the NSA….was Riley.” Matty says as a picture of Riley with a grin comes up on the screen. Her smile reaches her ears. Mac takes a step back and it’s like he can’t breathe.

“What?” Leanna asks.

“No, Riley? No way!” Bozer says with a raised voice. Jack just stood there and just stared at Riley on the screen.

“I’m sorry…” Matty says. Jack turned to Matty. He couldn’t believe what she was saying.

“What are you talking about, Matty?” Jack says with a shaky voice which was filled with rage and sadness. “Do you realize what you’re saying?! Riley would never do this! THERE IS NO WAY RILEY DID THIS!!” Jack yells as he starts approaching Matty but Bozer is there to stop him.

“Dalton, calm down!” Matty shouts.

“LOOK AT HER!” Jack shouts as he points to the picture of Riley smiling. “Does she look like someone who would commit treason….TREASON MATTY!!”

“Matty, all of us, including you, know that Riley didn’t do this…” Mac says. He is furious too, but bursting out right now would not be a good idea.

“Clear her name, now!” Jack says.

“I can’t…” Matty replies.

“Why?!” Jack shouts.

“BECAUSE...” Matty shouts, “they traced the hack back to her!” Jack keeps shaking his head. He can’t believe this is happening.

“Well, she obviously did that on purpose. Telling us to do something.” Leanna says.

“So, you’re telling me that…Riley is the most wanted in the US right now?” Mac asks. Matty looks at him, and slowly nods. Mac collapses on the sofa. Everyday they get a mission, he grabs a paperclip and makes a figure. But not this time. He can’t. His hand won’t reach for the bowl that’s on the table full of paperclips.

“Why would she do this, though?” Bozer asks.

“She must’ve been forced. Blackmailed or something. She would never do this on purpose.” Leanna replies.

“Who would blackmail her though?” Bozer asks. Matty turns to Jack who is sitting on the sofa looking at the floor. Matty approaches him and puts her hand on his knee.

“Jack, has Riley been in some kind of trouble before?” Matty asks.

“I…” He wipes his cheek. Mac is not shocked that he is crying. He is close himself. “I don’t think so. She always tells me everything. She has never told me that she got in trouble or something.” Jack answers.

“How do we find her?” Bozer asks.

“Have you tried tracing her?” Mac asks Matty.

“Yes, but we didn’t get anything. Looks like she got a new rig or something.” Matty answers.

“New rig?” Leanna asks. She exchanges a glance with Bozer.

“Why, what’s up?” Matty asks.

“Riley told us that there was this dude, her classmate from high school, that she only trusts him to build custom high-performance hardware. Guy is an asshole though.” Bozer says.

“Do you know where he lives?” Matty asks. Bozer nods and Matty turns to Jack and Mac. “We need to find Riley before somebody else does, and I trust you guys to do it. Your first stop is the guy Riley trust.” Mac stands up and walks over to Jack. He puts his arm on his shoulder.

“Come on, man, let’s bring her home.” Mac says quietly. Jack stands up and makes his way towards the door. He wipes his cheek when he was getting out. Mac, Bozer and Leanna followed him.

“Leanna, I need you here.” Matty says. Leanna stops and faces her.

“Matty, it’s Riley. I really want to help.” Leanna says.

“I know you do, but they’ve got this.” Matty says. Leanna takes a moment and then nods.

“What’s this dude’s name?” Jack asks.

“Jaden.” Bozer answers.

The ride to Jaden’s house was quiet. Bozer was driving cause Jack was not in the mood. They were all lost in their thoughts. Mac couldn’t imagine Riley in prison for the rest of her life. She doesn’t deserve that. And Mac knows that there is a reasoning why Riley hacked the NSA. And whoever forced her or blackmailed her, they don’t know what’s coming to them. They shouldn’t be scared from Mac, they should be scared from Jack mostly. The fire in his eyes says it all.

They arrive at Jaden’s house. When they approach the door, they can hear loud robo rock music. Jack just hates it. He knocks on the door, and nobody answers, then he starts knocking furiously, and even kicks the door. A guy answers, which Bozer doesn’t recognize, so It’s not Jaden.

“It takes three dudes to deliver a pizza?” The guy asks. Jack furrows his eyebrows and looks at Mac.

“We’re looking for Jaden.” Mac says.

“Who are you guys?” The guy asks.

“We’re in the market for some new hardware. Jaden knows me, it’s cool.” Bozer answers.

“Wait…you-you think we’re tech support?” The guy asks with a smile. Jack really wants to punch this guy. He’ll punch anyone right now. He gets in, not saying another word to the guy and finds the stairs for the basement. He doesn’t know if Jaden is down there, but it’s always been the basement. Everytime. And this time aswell. He finds Jaden sitting on a chair in front of a monitor.

“Jaden!” Jack shouts happily. Jaden turns around and starts walking towards him. Jack puts his hands on his shoulders and pushes him back. “How you doing, man? We have some questions.” Jack says as he pushes Jaden on the chair. “So, unless you like sucking your food through a straw, you’re gonna answer our questions, are we clear?” Jack asks as he takes of his sunglasses.

“I’d do what he says.” Bozer says. Jaden glances at him and smiles.

“Wait, I remember you. The Michael Bay wannabe.” Jaden says. Bozer rolls his eyes. _‘Bozer is right, he is an asshole’_ Mac thought.

“And what are you two, wannabe cops?” Jaden asks as he glances at Mac and Jack.

“No, I “wanna be” punching people, that’s my thing. And that’s what will happen to you if you don’t stop dicking around, you understand?” Jack asks as he gets into Jaden face.

“Look, we’re just trying to find Riley, do you know where she is?” Mac asks with a raised voice.

“Riley? No. And even If I had seen her, I wouldn’t tell you. I don’t even know who you are.” Jaden answers.

“I’m like her father. Here’s proof.” Jack says as he takes out his phone and shows a picture of him and Riley at an NFL game. Jaden, though, remains quiet. And Mac didn’t like the silence. So he is gonna force him to talk. He walks behind the monitors.

“What…that isn’t enough proof?” Bozer asks. Jaden shrugs.

“I mean…” he couldn’t finish cause every monitor went black and he sees Mac behind them. “Hey!! What the hell?!” Jaden shouts.

“If you tell us where she is, I won’t have to use this transformer to send 2000 volts into the rest of your gear.” Mac says. Jaden again remains quiet. But until he sees Mac getting ready to send those volts.

“Okay! Okay!” Jaden shouts. Mac stops and looks at him. “Riley came to me yesterday evening. She wanted a new rig with a custom hard drive. I already had one just sitting there so I gave it to her.”

“Where is she?” Jack growls.

“I don’t know, but I can find out. She also asked me to put a tracker in the laptop. It was easy.” Jaden asnwers. Everybody exchanged looks as they all thought the same thing. Why would Riley want a tracker in her laptop unless she wanted to be found?

“Turn it on. Find out where she is.” Mac says. Jaden turns on the PC and starts searching. After a minute they got a location. Jack glances at the monitor and is kind of in shock.

“Vancouver, Canada?” Jack asks as he glances at Mac and Bozer with furrowed eyebrows.

“There, that’s all I know, I swear. Now please, stop zapping my stuff.” Jaden says while looking at Mac.

_VANCOUVER, CANADA_

They arrived in Vancouver, and tracked Riley to a park.

“Okay, Riley’s tracker pings every five minutes, and the last four pings showed her heading this way.” Bozer says. Jack stops the car. And now they wait. They look around and there isn’t a single soul here. Mac glances at Jack and he can see that his hands are shaking, and his eyes are kind of watery.

“Jack, everything is gonna be alright.” Mac says. Jack closes his eyes as a tear flows down his cheek. His mind is just thinking the worst.

“She can’t…she can’t go to prison, Mac. She…she doesn’t deserve any of this.” Jack says. Mac has never seen Jack like this. So…broken. “And if she had been in trouble, she would always tell me. Why not now?”

“I don’t know…but what I do know is that nobody is going to prison except the ones who blackmailed her.” Mac says. Jack shakes his head.

“You don’t know that.” Jack whispers. And he is right. Mac doesn’t know what will happen after they fix this. And that really scares him. Riley being in a supermax is one of the things he couldn’t imagine. He knows Matty will do everything in her power to prevent that from happening, but will it be enough?

“After her dad left, I was always there for her. Always waiting her to come from school, happy because she got good grades or sad because someone bullied her. And I just couldn’t stand seeing her crying when she was little. That girl….is the sweetest, most caring person I know. And she doesn’t deserve any of this.” Jack says as tears started streaming down his face.

Mac nods as a tear came down his cheek. “I know, man.” Mac whispers. Bozer puts his hand on Jack’s shoulder and squeezes.

Then they hear a vehicle pulling up in the distance. A blue van. Then they see a person walking towards the van with a bag.

“That’s Riley.” Mac says as he undoes his seatbelt. They all get out of the car and start fast walking towards the van. They see Riley handing a laptop to the driver. Mac noticed how her hands are shaking while she was holding the laptop. When she handed it over, the back doors of the van opened and a guy pushed a female out. _‘Oh my God’_ Jack thought.

“Diane.” As soon as Jack saw her, he started running and Mac and Bozer followed him. Mac sees the van driving away, and then sees Riley hugging her mom.

“Diane!!” Jack yells as he approached Riley and Diane. Riley’s head shot up as soon as she heard Jack’s voice. She felt relieved when she saw Jack, Mac and Bozer running towards them. Jack kneeled down in front of Diane and hugged her. “Are you okay? Are you okay? Please, talk to me.” Jack says as he lets her go. But there is something wrong. It looks like she is choking. He then sees that she is pointing to her neck. Jack removes the scarf that’s around her neck, only to reveal a rope tightening around her neck.

“Oh my God! Mom! Mom!” Riley shouts as she puts her fingers between the rope and her neck. Jack can hear something clicking, and then sees a little box at the back of her neck.

“Mac, come look at this quick!” Jack says. Mac goes around and kneels down to take a close look at the box. He takes out his SAK and takes out the scissors. He tries cutting the wire, but it’s not working.

“It’s not working! I need some leverage to cut through the wire!” Mac says as he starts looking around. He sees a small sign that says “Keep off grass”. _‘The wooden handle is perfect.’_ “Bozer, come with me!” Mac says and they both run towards the sign.

“Diane, listen to me! You keep breathing, okay?” Jack says. He then hears Riley scream in pain. He looks over and sees that her fingers are starting to bleed. “Mac, hurry up!!” Jack yells.

“I’m sorry, mom, I’m trying. Please, stay with me!” Riley started to cry.

“Mac, we’re gonna lose her, man!!” Jack yells towards Mac. He sees Mac and Bozer running back with one end of the scissors in the wood. _‘What the…’_

“Okay, everybody, hold still.” Mac says. He places the scissors on the wire and he gives everything he’s got to cut the wire. And he does. Jack quickly removes the rope from her neck. Diane collapses in his hands, and he holds her tight. He kisses the top of her head.

“I got you. I got you.” Jack whispers. Riley also came and hugged them both. Mac and Bozer turn around to give them some privacy.

“Good job, man.” Mac says as he fist bumps Bozer.

They find two benches. Jack and Diane are on one bench, where Diane laid down a bit with her head on Jack’s lap. He keeps stroking her hair to calm her down, because she is shaking so much. On the other bench are Mac and Riley. Mac waiting for Bozer to come back from the car with some bandages so Mac can cover up the cuts on Riley’s fingers.

Bozer comes back with some bandage and a bottle of water. He gives them to Mac and goes over to Jack and Diane to give them a bottle of water too. Mac sat down next to Riley, who was shaking violently, and just looking at the ground.

“Hey.” Mac whispers. Riley slowly turns towards Mac and Mac sees black circles under her eyes. She must’ve not slept at all last night. “Give me your hands.” Mac says calmly. Riley does that. It was unbelievable how much Riley was shaking. Mac takes her hands. When he touches her he noticed the shaking slowed down a bit, but didn’t stop.

He wrapped a small bandage on each fingers on her hands. When he was done, he requested for her to drink some water, but she just shook her head.

“I’m sorry…” Riley says with a shaky voice. “Mac, I am so sorry…”

“Hey, hey.” Mac lifts up her chin. “This isn’t your fault.” Mac says.

“But it is. What I feared the most came back.” Riley says. _‘What does she mean?’_ “Mac, will I go to prison?” Riley asks with a shaky voice. “I don’t want to go to prison, Mac.” Mac wants to tell her that that will never happen. But he doesn’t know and he doesn’t want to lie to her. So, he’ll tell her something that it is true.

“All of us will make sure that doesn’t happen, Riley. Including Matty. You can trust me on that.” Mac says as he wraps his arms around Riley and she buries her face in his neck.

Jack thought it’s time to call Matty. He picks up his phone and calls her.

“Hey, Matty.”

“Jack, what happened?”

“Well, we got Riley and Diane. But the laptop with the cyber weapon is gone. They blackmailed Riley with kidnapping Diane and threatening to kill her.” Jack answers.

“Who are they?” Matty asks.

“We don’t know yet. Riley is gonna tell us. She is just calming down right now.” Jack answers.

“Jack, we need to know now. If that cyber weapon gets deployed, it will be the start of World War III.” Matty says. And she is right. Riley needs to spill the beans now.

“Okay, but…can I be the one talking to her?” Jack asks.

“Sure.” Matty answers. Jack looks over at the other bench and sees Mac and Riley hugging. He smiles a bit at the sight.

“Hey, you two. Come here.” Jack says. Mac and Riley break the hug and they go over to Jack. “Riley, honey, I know you are scared to death right now, but I need you to tell me what is happening.” Riley gulps and then nods.

“Um…you remember Peyton and Kai?” Riley asks. And Jack nods. Peyton and Kai were Riley’s best friends after high school. The three of them were into technology. The problem was that the two of them were happy when making trouble (Kai mostly), so Riley left them cause they were hacking ATMs. Well…that’s what Riley told Jack anyway.

“The real reason I left them was…that they wanted to join this hacker group, called the Collective. They are criminals. They traffic in stolen data. I didn’t want that kind of life.” Riley says.

“Why did they come after you?” Mac asks.

“I…I don’t know.” Riley replies.

“Okay, Matty, did you get that?” Mac asks.

“Yeah. I know who they are. They have quite the reputation for state-sponsored hacking. The kind of people that would stand to gain, if two superpowers were at war.” Matty says.

“War?” Diane asks.

“What war?” Riley asks even more scared now. There is no point in lying now. Mac sighs.

“If we don’t stop the cyber weapon, it might be the start of World War III.” Mac says. Riley’s eyes go wide.

“What?!” Riley asks with a raised shaky voice. She starts shaking even more know. Everyone tried to calm her down, but the shaking and the fear got the best of her, as she vomits on the ground. Stress and anxiety can cause nausea, vomiting. Mac knows that. He had a couple himself when he was in Afghanistan. They give her water, while Jack and Mac go a bit farther from the others to talk to Matty.

“We have to find out what was stolen from the NSA guys. I know Riley is frightened, but we have to know.” Matty says.

“I’ll go ask her.” Mac says. He sits down next to her and takes her hands in his. She looks at him with red watery eyes. “Riley, we can still fix this. We just need to know what you stole from the NSA.” Mac says.

“It…it-it…a cyber weapon called Cannibal. I read that it allows the user to take control…of modern cars and drive them remotely.” Riley says.

“Matty, did you get that?” Mac asks while still holding Riley’s hands. He had no intention of letting go. Matty caught the convo through their comms.

“Yes, Mac.” Matty answers as Jack walks over with Matty on the call.

“Okay, so if that’s all that was stolen from the NSA, then let’s just call China and tell them to call of their subs.” Bozer says.

“Bozer is right. The Chinese must be expecting their nuclear plants to start melting down. Worst case scenario, they’re gonna have an increase in fender benders and weekend traffic.” Jack says. He then sees Riley shaking her head. Mac notices that aswell.

“What is it, Ri?” Jack asks.

“It’s….it’s worse than that. Uh…with Cannibal, the user could alter the code to take control of any number of other systems.” Riley says.

“So, we don’t know what they are gonna do with it.” Bozer adds.

“But…umm…while I was hacking the NSA I also hacked one of the Collective’s servers. Something is going down in a building in Shanghai…16 hours from now.” Riley says as she looked at her watch. She then turns around to see them smiling at her. Especially Mac. He had the biggest smile of them all.

“That must be it.” Mac says as he rubs her back, releasing some stress.

“Jack, can I talk to you in private?” Matty asks. Jack walks away from the others and faces Matty on the phone. “We need Riley in Shanghai. She is the one who hacked the NSA, she could be the only one to stop Cannibal.” Matty says. Jack took a deep breath and closed his eyes because he knew that Matty was right. But he didn’t like the idea one bit. Jack walks back to them and kneels in front of Riley.

“Riley, honey, I know this is too much to ask but…will you come with us to Shanghai? You might be the only one who can stop this.” Jack says.

“What?” Diane asks.

Riley nods. “Yes. I’ll come with you. I need to fix this.”

“Jack…” Jack takes Diane away from the others. He puts his hands on her shoulders. “I promise you with my life, that I will bring her home without a scratch.” Diane can see that Jack is telling the truth. So she nods. Plus she doesn’t want World War III to start.

“Just, please come back to me. The both of you.” Diane says.

“I will, I promise.” Jack says as he gives her a kiss on the lips. Matty heard everything, and she is relieved.

“Bozer, you and Diane come back to LA. Mac, Jack and Riley, go and stop The Collective.” Matty says as she hangs up.

“That was good thinking. Hacking their servers.” Mac says with a smile.

“I just thought about what you would have done.” Riley says blushing a bit. Mac smiles at her as they get in the car.

_THE PHOENIX JET_

They left Vancouver and were on their way to Shanghai. Jack was sleeping at the front of the plane, Mac was in the bathroom, and Riley was just looking out the passenger window. Thinking about the consequences if they don’t stop the cyber weapon. Thinking about spending her whole life in prison after this. She closes her eyes as tears start falling. She is startled when Mac opens the bathroom door and comes out. When he sees her crying, he goes and sits next to her.

He takes her hand to reassure her that everything will be alright. That they will fix this. “You can always talk to me, Riley.” Mac says.

“Mom and I were just sitting, watching TV like every other night….and then…there is this loud crash from the front door. We…we shot up from the couch as 2 people with….machine guns come towards us. They….they had us against the wall….started searching us from top to bottom…” she says and that thought makes her shiver “…they started tossing everything searching for my laptop. When they found it, they realized that with that laptop they couldn’t do anything. So they told me what to do or they would kill my mom. They took her and they left me alone, with everything turned upside down around me…” Riley says while sobbing.

He wrapped his arms around her and lets her cry. When she stopped she whispered “I don’t want to be that kind of a person. I never want to be that kind of a person.”

“Hey, look at me.” Mac says as Riley backs up and looks at him. “You are the complete opposite. Agreeing to come with us and making this right, that shows that you are a good person. Don’t you ever tell yourself that you are a bad person. You deserve all the good that’s in this world, Riley Davis.” Mac says with a smile as he moves a curl of her hair from her face. From the way they are positioned, all he wants to do is just lean in and kiss her. He wanted that since he met her. But what if she doesn’t want that? He doesn’t want to ruin what they have now, so he just holds her.

“Get some sleep. Looks like you haven’t slept in days.” Mac says. Riley couldn’t sleep before, but now with Mac by her side and holding her, knowing she is safe, she dozes off in an instant.

_SHANGHAI, CHINA_

With the data they got from the servers that Riley hacked, they ended up in front of a big, tall building. In front of the building there are counters, selling hats, gloves, Christmas stuff. Mac looks over to the building while pretending to be a buyer, searching for stuff at the counters. Jack and Riley were on the other side, also pretending to be buyers. Like Jack promised Diane, he ain’t leaving her side.

“Well, whatever is inside that building, it’s got a lot of security. Riley, you got eyes inside yet?” Mac asks.

Riley wasn’t facing the building, but with her tablet, she opened the selfie camera and tried to look inside, but nothing. “No, I don’t. Sorry, Mac. I-I’ll try harder, wait…”

“Hey, hey.” Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down, okay?” Jack says with a smile. Riley sighs and nods. “Can you think of another way?” He asks calmly.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Riley says.

“So, what do we think is in there?” Jack asks.

“Whatever it is, we have only one hour to stop the Collective from using Cannibal, taking it through those doors, and deploying it.” Mac says.

Riley tries to ignore that and looks around and spots an ATM in front of the building. She has an idea. “That ATM,” Riley says as Jack sees it, “It has a camera. I can hack it and have eyes outside so we can spot the Collective.” Jack smiles.

“You heard her, Mac?” Jack asks as he and Riley walk towards the ATM.

“Yep.” Mac says as he puts down a Christmas mug on the counter and approaches Riley and Jack.

As Riley hacks the ATM, Jack just can’t keep wondering something so she asks Riley “Hey, Ri, why didn’t you tell me the truth about Peyton and Kai? I’m not mad, don’t worry about that, I just want to know.”

“I’ll tell you Jack, just…not right now. Need to get in there.” Riley says. And for Riley to be sure Jack is not angry, he gives her a smile and gives her an “okay.”.

After a few minutes, Riley has hacked the ATM and now has access to its camera. She rewinds the footage just in case, and that was the right thing to do because she sees something familiar.

“Um…guys…” they glance at Riley when they heard her shaky voice. “That’s my laptop.” Riley shows the footage of a man dressed up as a guard walk inside the building with Riley’s laptop to Mac and Jack.

“Cannibal is in the building…” Mac says quietly.

“Okay, so we have to get in there.” Jack says.

“How? This place is a fortress.” Riley says with a shaky voice. They both turn around and see Mac thinking. And when he faces them, they knew he came up with something.

“I have an idea. Stay here, I’ll be back in five.” Mac says as he starts running. While they wait for Mac, Jack can see that Riley is tense. Of course she is. She has only seen these kind of situations in movies. And she is on a mission with them when she doesn’t even work at the Phoenix. He goes over and hugs her tight. She buries her face in his chest as she wraps her arms around him.

“Is everything going to be okay?” Riley asks.

“I promise you, everything is going to be alright.” Jack says. He can feel Riley’s head shaking against his chest.

“You don’t know that, Jack. I could end up in prison for the rest of my life.” Riley says.

“Hey, that will never happen, you know why?” Riley looks up at him “Because you don’t know Matty like I do.” Jack says with a smile. He then kissed her forehead and hugs her tight again.

Then Mac comes back running with a cap in his hand. He puts the hat on Jack’s head and smiles. “We’re tourists from Cleveland. You are her dad,” he turns to Riley, “and you are my girlfriend.” Mac smiles when he says that. Riley’s eyes go wide when Mac said that. “Shall we?” he ask while extending his hand. Riley takes it and smiles. They walk inside holding hands, while Jack was next to Mac.

“Hey there.” Mac says with a grin to a guard. “Me, my girlfriend and her dad are here on vacation, and we are looking for Shanghai Tower. Is this it?” Mac asks the guard. Riley remains silent and Jack is getting his fists ready if he has to punch somebody.

“No.” the guard answers.

“Really? I…could’ve sworn it was.” Mac says as he glances at Jack and Riley.

“Yeah, that’s not what the map thingy on my phone says.” Jack adds as he waves his phone. _‘Oh my God, Jack…’_ Mac thought. Jack then glances at the guard. “Maybe I should go there and check.”

“Hey!” the guard shouts as he stops Jack. That shout startled Riley a bit and now was kind of scared. That’s when they hear a siren. An air raid siren. She hears the guard shouting to other people something in Chinese. She glances at Mac and he winks at her. _‘This was his plan. He made an air raid siren’_ Riley says to herself and she smiles at him.

Jack looks around and see people in tac gear, with machine guns coming out from corners. _‘Whoa, where the hell are we…’_ he wonders. He takes a step back next to Riley.

“This building is now on lockdown. You have to come with me.” the guard says approaching the three.

The guard keeps taking them from floor to floor. So Jack decided to add some spice to the situations. “Hey, you can’t just take me wherever you want, okay? I’m an American citizen. I have right. I demand to speak whoever’s in charge immediately.”

“This vacation has literally gone to shit!” Mac says playing the part with Jack. Riley was in the middle of them remaining quiet, scared if she says something that will ruin their cover.

“Well, maybe next time you’ll come to me when you help finding a place for a Christmas vacation, you idiot.” Jack says knowing Mac knew what he was thinking.

“What do you even know about planning a vacation, you grandpa.” Mac says as he looks around trying to find a way to get away from the guards.

“Well, at least I wouldn’t have ended up in a building that’s on lockdown!” Jack says.

“Yeah, you probably would have taken us to Antarctica so we can freeze to death. You are probably gonna become a Jack-sicle.” Mac says as he still kept looking around. Two people walk past them, who they look like computer technicians.

“What’s wrong with Antarctica dude?! There are penguins there, and penguins are awesome!” Jack says.

“I literally just told you what’s wrong with Antarc…” Mac trails off as he spots a room full of servers. _‘Oh shit…’._

“You will be free to go when we figure out what is going on here.” The guard says as he swipes his card and opens a door. “For now, you will be comfortable here.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Jack says as he walks inside. Mac follows Riley inside while quietly takes out his SAK and takes out the scissors.

“Riley, here. When he gets here, cut the rope with the card that’s on his waist. Okay?” Mac says and Riley quickly nods and takes the scissors. And before the guard gets out and closes the door, Mac goes to Jack and pushes him.

“Who you calling an idiot, huh?” Mac asks. Jack furrows his eyebrows. But when Mac winks at him, he knows what his plan is.

Jack gives him a hard push. “You, dumbass! Who knows how long we will be stuck here!”

Mac gives him a harder push. “How was I supposed to know that this building will be in lockdown, huh?!” Mac shouts. Riley just watches them with wide eyes as the guard approaches and goes in between Mac and Jack.

“Hey! Calm down! We will get you out as soon as we can!” the guard shouts. Mac adjusts his jacket as he looks Jack in the eyes. Then the guard leaves and now they are locked inside the room. Mac turns to Riley.

“Did you get it?” Mac asks. Riley smiles as she shows the card to Mac. Mac grins. “Nice!” Mac says as he gives Riley a high five. “Anyway…I know what building we’re in.” Mac says as he puts the card in his pocket.

“You guys noticed the computer technicians, rooms full of high-end servers, the Chinese special forces? All that adds up to one thing.” Mac says. Riley is confused. “This is Chinese central command!” Mac says. Riley’s eyes go wide, and Jack lets out a nervous laugh.

“Wait, you’re telling me that we just wandered into the heartbeat of the Chinese military here?” Jack asks. Mac nods. “Seriously?” This couldn’t get messier. Well, it could, if they don’t stop the Collective for using Cannibal. Mac was in his thoughts again, but right now Jack kind of saw fear in his eyes.

“Wait, Riley…” Riley quickly turned to Mac when he heard the fear in his voice. “…can Cannibal be used to hack any other kind of vehicle?” Mac asks.

“Well, they have to tweak the code, but…with some simple changes, Cannibal can be used to control any number of…” Riley couldn’t finish cause she was interrupted by Mac.

“Submarines?” Mac asks. _‘No…’_ Riley realized what Mac was trying to say. “That was the Collective’s plan the whole time.” Mac says.

“To threaten the Chinese to get them to move their submarines within range of the West Coast, then remotely take control of those submarines and attack the United States?” Jack asks sounding scared.

“Oh, God. World War III starts as soon as my laptop’s plugged in.” Riley says. She is starting to shake again.

“Well, let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.” Mac says as he approaches the door, swipes the card and the door opens.

They find the elevators. Mac uses his card to open them and then presses every floor button.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jack asks.

“Naval operations servers are where they’d go to deploy Cannibal. It’ll be on a restricted level. Whatever doesn’t light up is it.” Mac says. And the 30th floor doesn’t light up. Mac puts the card on the sensor for the elevator to close so they can go up to the 30th floor, but it doesn’t work. Jack snaps his fingers.

“As usual, you might want to hurry up there, bud.” Jack says.

“I don’t think this is gonna work.” Mac says as he glances at Jack.

“I think we need an RFID from one of those techs we’ve been hiding from.” Riley says.

“Alright, I got this. I’ll just gently grab the next one that walks by and kindly persuade him onto the elevator.” Jack says as he looks out of the elevator and smacks his fist into his other hand.

“What?” Riley asks.

“And then what?” Mac asks and Jack shrugs. “We can’t take a hostage with us or leaving him unconscious somewhere, Jack.” Mac says. “Plus, I got a better idea. Follow me.”

They follow Mac to the computer maintenance room. “Jack, you’re lookout. Riley, you’re with me.” Mac says as he enters the room with Riley and Jack stays outside.

Riley watches Mac do his thing now. “This is important. Hold on that for me, will you?” Mac asks as he gives her a chip.

“Sure.” Riley replies. Mac smiles at her.

“I’ve been meaning to ask.” Mac says while he is building a device. “Are Kai and Peyton working for the Collective?” That’s not what Mac wanted right now. Two of Riley’s ex best friends, and if they work for the Collective and find out Riley stopped the attack, it will get ugly.

“I don’t know about Kai, but…I think Peyton has her own company now. She is not a criminal. I really hope Kai isn’t also.” Riley says quietly.

“Look, Riley,” Mac puts down everything and faces Riley, “I know you think that you are the only person that has done this kind of thing. But that is not true. Every good person risks something so they can do something for their loved ones. And especially in my line of work, for example, if it comes to saving the ones I love or other innocent people, I would do whatever it takes to keep them safe. Especially you….and of course the rest of the gang.” Mac says as he scratches his neck. He almost told Riley his feelings about her.

Riley didn’t realize that a tear came out and flowed down her cheek, until Mac reaches and wipes it off. Riley hugs Mac so tight, it was like he almost couldn’t breathe. But he wasn’t complaining. Riley’s hugs where one of the best.

“Thank you.” Riley says. When she pulls back, Mac just couldn’t resist, as he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek before hugging her again.

“Always.” Mac replies. _‘Mac kissed me on the cheek…what?’_ Riley was hiding her smiling face in Mac’s shoulder. They remained like that for a minute, forgetting about the mission, until they heard a knock on the door.

“Stay here.” Mac says as he goes and opens the door. “Somebody coming?”

“No, but it’s been like 4 minutes, dude. Hurry up.” Jack says.

“Yeah, right, sorry.” Mac says. He rushes back and quickly makes the device. It takes him another minute and they get out and meet with Jack.

“Thank God.” Jack says. “That a teleportation device?”

“What? No.” Mac answers as he glances at Jack. “And by the way, that headline you saw was about quantum teleportation. Only works on individual atoms.” Mac says with a laugh.

“The elevator only moves if the RFID fob is near the reader. This is a range extender.” Mac shows the device to Jack and Riley. “It’ll boost the signal of any fob nearby.”

“Okay, so we don’t need to get someone with the key fob onto the elevator, just near it.” Riley says.

“Exactly.” Mac says with a smile.

“And how close do they need to be?” Jack asks.

“Uh…20 feet.” Mac answers.

“Okay, you two go to the elevator and get ready.” Riley says.

“Whoa, whoa, what?” Jack asks. “No, no, that’s not happening. You are not leaving my side.”

“Jack, please, I’ll be careful, just…let me do this. I need to do something good.” Riley says and as much as he wants to say now, Jack just can’t say no to those puppy eyes.

“Alright, but if you’re not back in 4 minutes max, I’m coming to look for you.” Jack says. Riley nods.

“Avoid everyone, okay?” Mac says.

“Got it.” Riley says and with that she is gone searching for a tech. Mac and Jack arrive at the elevator and just wait for Riley.

“So, are you gonna tell me what took you so long to make that thing?” Jack says as he glances at Mac with a smile.

“I asked her about Kai and Peyton.” Mac answers. And then Jack’s smile fades. Jack thought Mac would start by saying that he kissed Riley, because he heard that, but he didn’t hear the conversation they had before. He still is waiting for an answer from Riley as to why she lied to him.

“What about them?” Jack asks.

“I asked her if they work for the Collective.” Mac answers. He glances at Jack staring at him, and then Jack opens his arms to tell Mac to continue. “She doesn’t know about Kai, but she told me that Peyton has her own company or something.” Jack nods and remains quiet. They hear Riley approaching.

“…my friends, who if you saw them, would make you totally freak out and sound the alarms…” Riley arrives in front of the elevator with a tech who looks like he doesn’t know a thing what Riley is saying. “…could steal the signal off that fob clipped to your pocket and…” Riley trails off as she turns to the guys. Mac places the fob reader in front of the sensor. The light turns green and he gives a thumbs up to Riley. Riley turns around and glances at the tech.

“You just helped save the world.” Riley says and she kisses the tech on the cheek. Mac saw that and turned away. He will admit, he was kind of jealous. And then a thought came to his head. _‘What if that kiss made her uncomfortable? Oh man…’_ “Thanks, bye.” Riley says as the tech touches the place Riley kissed him on. She got on the elevator as Mac pressed the button for the 30th floor.

“I give him 15 minutes tops before he sends someone looking for me.” Riley says with a smile, feeling a bit proud that she did good.

“Mhm…” Mac hums sarcastically while looking down.

“Nice work, honey.” Jack says with a grin. But, now that Mac mentioned Kai and Peyton, he wanted to know now why did she lie to him. “Can you tell me about Kai and Peyton now?” And when Riley heard that, her smile was gone. Riley sighs. Mac will remain quiet and not get involved, but they were in an elevator and it was hard not to hear them.

“After my dad left, you came. And I loved you since day 1. You made me happy, you have been there for me all the time. I lied to you because, I thought if I told you the truth that…you would leave me and mom.” Riley says as she gets ready to cry, her eyes are getting watery. “Telling you I nearly worked with criminals, I was scared you would get hurt, disappointed and leave. I didn’t want you to leave us, I never want you to leave us.” Riley says as tears stream down her face.

Jack couldn’t hold back the tears when he heard Riley say that. Nobody ever said that to him, he never felt this much loved before. He goes over and hugs Riley. “I would never, ever, leave you Riley. You and your mom are the most important people in my life, and I would do anything to keep you safe. And if you did tell me the truth, I would be there to help you and tell you that it was wrong. But you figured it out by yourself.” Jack says. He kisses her forehead and starts laughing.

“Man, I’m pumped!” Jack says. “Let’s do this shit!” Mac and Riley laugh as they reached the 30th floor. Mac steps out only to have a gun pointed at his head.

“Mac!” Riley shouts. Jack charged and tackled the guy with the gun. He falls down but quickly gets up. Mac took Riley’s hand and ran to the laptop.

“Okay, Riley do your thing.” Mac says as he watches Jack fight with the member of the Collective. Riley gets to typing, while Jack is dodging every single punch and kick. Jack catches his hand, hits him in the stomach, then in the right cheek, and then gives him an uppercut and the guy falls to the ground. But he doesn’t give up so easily. He tries to get back up, but Jack gives him a hard punch that sends him into a coma. Jack takes off his hat, and spins it midair, and falls next to the guy.

He then approaches Mac and Riley. “How’s it going?” he asks.

“Can you stop the missiles?” Mac asks Riley.

“All of them.” Riley answers. Jack and Mac sigh in relief. Then they hear a beeping. “Except one.” Riley says with a shaky voice. Mac looks at the screen and reads “Missile number 5 launched.” _‘No…’_

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Matty paces around the war room as she watches the missile on the screen approaching the US. Then her phone rings. It’s Jack, so she picks up.

“Hey, Matty, um…we have some bad news.” Jack says.

“I know, Jack, I’m watching on the screen.” Matty says. Jack can hear she is sad and disappointed. She can hear Riley in the background.

“What have I done? Mac, what I have I done? Jack…Oh my God, all of those people dead because of me.” she was spiraling. And Matty doesn’t blame her.

“Hey, this is not because of you, Riley. Matty, how long until impact?” Jack asks as Mac tried to calm Riley down. She tried to hack the missile but It was no use.

“Ten minutes if we’re lucky.” Matty answers. “Can Riley hack the missile?” Matty asks.

“No, she can’t. She said that after launch, the only signals it will listen to are pings and GPS satellites.” Jack answers. Jack turns around and sees a familiar look that he loves so much. “Wait…wait a minute…I know that look.” Jack says as he is looking at Mac. Riley also glances at Mac who has his eyes wide.

“I know how we can stop the missile.” Mac says.

“Really? You just figured out how to stop a missile that’s halfway across the world?” Jack asks.

“Yeah.”

“How?” Matty asks.

“We just gotta move the Earth.” Mac says sounding like it’s a simple thing. Well, for him it might be, but for the others they all say “what?” simultaneously.

Mac grabs a fire extinguisher and starts hitting the wall. “What the hell are you doing?” Jack asks as he goes to Mac. A piece of the wall falls down to reveal a metal mesh.

“This! This metal mesh. That’s what we’re looking for. That’s what’s blocking the wireless signals from coming in and out of the building. But we’re gonna use it to send one, so I need you to cut a piece of it out of the wall, and then bend it.” Mac says. He then turns to Riley who is looking at the ground, her hands shaking violently. Mac kneels in front of her and puts a hand over hers. That seem to help a bit, as the shaking slowed down.

“Riley, can you hack the Chinese GPS Network? We might have a chance to stop the missile.” Mac says. Riley looks up with a little hope in her eyes and then nods. “We need to find out which satellites are guiding that missile towards the US.”

“Okay, I can do that.” Riley replies and she gets to work. Jack is breaking the wall, while Mac opens a vent and grabs the power supply. Jack takes out the metal mesh, and Mac helps him bend it. Then, Mac finds a rooter. He breaks it and grabs the WiFi antenna. He also told Jack to take out the metal leg from a table.

As Mac is working, Jack asks “So, what is this?”

“Well, GPS chips, just like the one on your phone, calculate your location using signals from satellite dishes. Four or more. Now those satellite dishes are 12,500 miles away in orbit. That missile’s is only 3000 miles away, so if we can build a stronger, closer satellite dish, we might be able to aim it at that missile and trick its GPS into thinking that California isn’t where it thought it was, and…”

“Move the Earth.” Riley finishes. Mac glances at her and sees the amazement in her eyes.

“Riley, which was is west?” Mac asks. Riley opens a compass on her laptop and then points towards the window. “Perfect, Jack, break the window.”

“Oh, fun!” Jack says with a smile. He picks up a chair, and throws it towards the window. But he aimed perfectly so the half of the chair hits the wall and the other half the window. Which was enough to break it. He doesn’t want to kill a civilian if that chair flies out the window.

“Once you access the GPS satellites, find the furthest one and mimic its signal.” Mac says to Riley and she nods. Mac aims the dish towards the window. Then his phone rings, and he picks up.

“Yeah.”

“The Pentagon is 60 seconds from launching a counterstrike, and I can’t do anything about it. So, if you’re gonna do something, now is the time, Mac.” Matty says.

“This should do it, but the dish isn’t transmitting!” Riley says. Jack extends his arms glancing at Mac telling Mac to tell them what’s wrong.

“Oh, we need power!” Mac says. He goes to the vent he opened earlier and grabs a wire. He wants to connect it with the other wire that’s on the dish, but there is nothing to hold it with.

“I need something to hold it like a binder clip or a stapler.”

“Or a Jack Dalton.” Jack says as he grabs the wire and connects them with his hand, burning him and sending electricity in his body.

“Whoa!!” Mac shouts.

“Jack!!” Riley yells. Then her laptop starts beeping. She looks to the screen and sees that the transmission has started. “We’re transmitting.” Riley says.

Matty sees on the screen that the missile is starting to change course. “Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop.” Matty says.

“Detonation, in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…” Mac glances at Jack who is red as a tomato in the face.

“Detonation! We have detonation!!” Matty says. Mac wastes no time and moves Jack away from the wires. Jack screams in pain as he holds his hand. Mac takes a look and sees that the hand is burnt.

“You’re an idiot you know that?” Mac says. Jack though, he starts laughing. Then so does Mac. Mac then turns to face Riley.

“Is it over?” Riley asks.

“It’s over. Nothing happened.” Mac says and grins. Riley runs and hugs him. Mac lifts her up and spins her while laughing. When Mac puts her down, she goes over to Jack and sees his burnt hand.

“I’m fine, sweetheart. I’m fine. Come here.” Jack extends his hands and hugs Riley. “I am so proud of you.” He doesn’t let her go for a minute. Then Matty speaks on the phone.

“And some other good news. Since Riley helped to stop the missile, all charges on her have been dropped. So Riley, you’ll get to go home knowing you saved only God knows how many lives. But I can tell you, it’s a big number.” Matty says. When Riley heard that, she started crying from happiness.

“I’ll be damned. Did we just pull off a genuine Christmas miracle?” Jack asks while grinning.

“Hey, Matty, can you take care of our friends that are probably on their way up here?” Mac asks. He is talking about the Chinese special forces.

“On it.” Matty says as she hangs up.

_THE PHOENIX JET_

After a successful mission, they are on their way back to LA to celebrate Christmas properly. Jack and Mac were getting drink from the bar that was on the jet, while Riley was sleeping like a baby at the front of the plane. She needed a good sleep after everything that happened. They made themselves a martini and took a seat at the back of the plane. Jack catches Mac how he was looking at Riley with a smile on his face.

“So, when are you planning on telling her how do you feel?” Jack asks. Mac glances at him with wide eyes and red cheeks. Jack just couldn’t hold back a laugh.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mac says as he takes a sip from his martini.

“Seriously?” Jack says while laughing. “Dude, I might not be smart, but I’m not blind either. And I’m not deaf as well. I heard a kiss while I was keeping watch in front of the maintenance room.” Mac’s head falls back on the seat as Jack laughs a bit more.

“I kissed her on the cheek, there.” Mac says.

“Was that so hard?” Jack asks with a grin.

“So why did you ask me what we were doing inside if you were listening?” Mac asks.

“I wasn’t listening. I only heard the kiss part.” Jack says.

“Mhm, sure.” Mac says sarcastically. He takes another sip from his martini. But Jack’s question remains in his head. _‘So, when are you planning on telling her how do you feel?’_

“What if she doesn’t feel the same way?” Mac didn’t realize that came out from his mouth until he finished the question. So what’s the point in even hiding now. “I don’t want to ruin what we have now.”

“You will never know unless you tell her. And you will not ruin anything, Mac, trust me. You’re one of the most important people of her life.” That gave Mac a little hope. Maybe he should do it tonight, on the balcony while it snows. Which reminds him he has to go to the store real quick to grab something for the machine. Yeah, he’ll tell her everything then.

_MAC’S HOUSE_

Jack, Riley and Diane all enter Mac’s house to find Bozer, Matty and Leanna in the kitchen, and the smell of pastrami. They all hug and say “Merry Christmas”.

“How’s the pastrami, Matty?” Bozer asks.

“It’s actually delicious, but pastrami on a Christmas?” Matty asks. Bozer gives her a disappointing face.

“I expected better from you, Matty.” Bozer says as he gets back to cooking while the others laugh.

“Where is Mac?” Riley asks.

“Oh, he said he needed to go to the store to get something. Should be back soon.” Leanna answers. They all know why Mac needed to go to the store, except for Riley and Diane. Matty’s phone buzzes and she takes a look at the message.

“Good news, everyone! All the members of the Collective have been tracked down and taken into custody. The organization has been neutralized.” Matty says.

“Alright!!” Jack shouts.

“Um, Miss Webber…” Riley gets interrupted by Matty.

“Call me Matty.” she says with a smile.

“Okay, Matty, any chance there was a member of the Collective by the name Kai?” Riley asks. Matty takes a look at her message again.

“By the looks of it, no.” Matty answers. Riley sighs in relief.

Half an hour has passed and Mac hasn’t come back yet. _‘What was taking him so long?’_ “I’m gonna call Mac. See where he is.” Jack says as he stands up with the mug in his hand and goes to the living room. He finds Mac’s number and calls him. It rings a couple of times before it answers.

“Hey, man. Where are you?” Jack asks. But there is no answer. It’s just silence. Then the phone makes a sound and Jack sees that Mac wants to video chat. _‘Why would he want to video chat while in a store?’_ Anyway, Jack accepts the request and what he sees makes him drop the mug on the floor and it shatters to pieces. Mac was tied up on a chair, shirtless with cuts all over his body. Everybody heard the mug breaking so they didn’t bother to get up. But when they heard Jack shout “Mac!” they all jumped and ran in the living room.

They all gasp at the sight of Mac. Then the camera is turned the other way to reveal the person everyone hates the most right now.

“Why hello there Phoenix. How are you all doing on this lovely evening.” Murdoc says.

“What did you do to him?” Jack growls.

“Oh, Agnus and I had a little fun before you called. Well…I did, I’m not sure about him.” Murdoc replies. Riley’s eyes burn when she knew what Murdoc meant by “fun”.

“You are dead, you son of a bitch!” Jack shouts. Then Mac starts screaming very loudly. Murdoc turns the camera so they can see Mac’s red face, how his veins are popping out. By the sound of it, Mac is being electrocuted.

“Stop, please!!” Riley yells. And when Murdoc heard that voice, he released the button he was pressing and Mac stopped screaming.

“Is that Riley I hear? My BFFs girlfriend?” Murdoc glances at Mac. “So that’s why you brought all of that stuff from the store. You were gonna make it snow for her. How cute.” Murdoc says. _‘Mac was gonna make it snow, for me?’_ She sees Mac looking down. “Oh…I guess the surprise is ruined now.”

“What do you want, Murdoc?” Jack asks.

“Oh, I think you know what I want, Jack. I want to watch the Phoenix Foundation burn down with every single living soul in it. So, I’m making a team. Contacted some friends, this and that.” Murdoc says.

“You and I both know you don’t have friends, Doc. And nobody will join your stupid little team. Everybody is against you. Now, if you do something else to Mac, I swear to God, you are gonna wish you never lived!” Jack shouts.

“Let me tell you something Jacky boy. Those who are not with me, are against me!” Murdoc says with a raised voice. “And, I crush anyone…” Mac starts screaming in the background “…who stands against me!”

The call ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3 Chapter 10 will come soon.


	10. Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter is dark. I marked the paragraphs with #, so you don't have to read it if you don't want to. From the last sentence of the paragraph above the #, you can tell what is going to happen. 
> 
> If you liked the chapter, leave a kudos and a comment :)

_AFTER A LONG FLIGHT HOME_

Mac opens the door and walks inside his house, to find Bozer and Leanna in the kitchen, smiling and laughing. Mac always thought that those two were cute, and he is very happy for them. When he claps his hands to get their attention, he sees them jump a little.

“Ayy, there he is!” Bozer says as he hugs Mac. “Do I wanna know how it was in China?” Bozer asks as Mac gives Leanna a hug.

“Exhausting. But, everything went well. Without Riley’s help, we couldn’t have made it.” Mac says.

“How was she?” Leanna asks with a smile.

“Well, she was scared obviously. But she did everything right. And it’s because of her that there isn’t a World War happening right now.” Mac says. “I have been thinking about something. What if Riley worked at the Phoenix? We could use someone like her, after….Nikki.”

“You think she would accept after Murdoc and the Collective?” Bozer asks. Mac shrugs.

“She doesn’t have to be in the field. But if she wants, we can teach her. She doesn’t have to go to spy school. You can tell her everything. With Leanna and Jack, she can practice martial arts. I’m just gonna suggest this to Matty.” Mac says.

“Alright bro. Hey, the machine you’ve been building for snowing, I moved it in the back. And don’t worry, I was careful.” Bozer says.

“Thanks. Which reminds me, I have to go to the store to buy some stuff for the snow. Just need to take a quick shower.” Mac says.

“I can’t wait to see Riley’s reaction.” Leanna says getting excited. Mac smiles and nods.

“Me too.” He says.

He leaves them in the kitchen and goes to his room. He sits on his bed, thinking about everything that happened in China. Building a satellite dish, going in the Chinese central command, kissing Riley on the cheek. Mac smiled when he thought of that. He was extremely nervous about today. He knows Riley will love the snow, but him telling her how he feels, does kind of scare him. Because what if she doesn’t feel the same way? What if he is in the friend zone? But Jack said that he is one of the most important people in Riley’s life. So that brings down the stress a little bit.

Mac grabs a towel and takes a quick shower. He quickly dries up, dresses up and gets ready to go to the store. Since the store’s not that far away, he decides to go by foot. He gets out of his room, and smells some pastrami.

“Hey, Mac. Jack called, they are gonna be here in 20 minutes. So you better go to the store quick.” Bozer says. Mac puts on his shoes, takes his wallet and puts on a hat so he doesn’t catch a cold since he just came out of the shower.

“Alright, I’m off.” Mac calls out.

“See ya.” Leanna says.

_AT THE STORE_

He arrives at the store, takes a cart and starts searching for the stuff he needs. As he searches through the store, he thinks about every possible scenario that could happen tonight. She could walk away, not saying a word. She could slap him and walk away also not saying a word. She could just give him a simple “okay” and that’s it. She could say that they are just friends, or that he is like a brother to her. Or maybe she could say the same thing he will. That she feels the same way, then maybe they will kiss. He’s never admitted his feeling to a girl, and he is scared if he says something wrong and screws it up. So he starts whispering the things he is gonna say.

“Hey, Riley, I really like you and…no, no, no, come on, Mac! Hey, Riley, I have something to tell you. I am in love with you….No, Mac! You idiot…that’s bullshit!” Mac whispers. The people that walk past him are all wondering what is going on with him.

“Hey, Riley, I um…really, really…” Mac trails off as he hears someone call him name.

“Mac?” Mac turns around and a person he didn’t expect to see in LA since he lives in NYC. Steve Harrison. Steve is Mac’s friend from MIT. They haven’t seen each other in a long time. The last time was before Mac went to Afghanistan.

“Steve?” Mac goes over and hugs his friend tightly. “How are you, man?” Mac asks.

“I’m pretty good, brother, how are you?” Steve asks.

“I’m great. It’s good to see you. How’s life going for you?” Mac asks.

“It’s been alright. Came here for a few days. This is my wife, Angela. Angela, this is Mac, a friend from MIT.” Steve says. Mac and Angela shake hands.

“Nice to meet you.” Angela says with a smile.

“Likewise.” Mac says.

“Still working in a think tank?” Steve asks. Mac nods.

“Yep. Working on new projects and stuff every day, it’s exhausting.” Mac says as he laughs.

“Well, good for you man. Hey, listen, we have to be somewhere so we better get going. Why don’t we meet up for some coffee one day, catch up on things.” Steve says.

“You got it. Nice seeing you, Steve.” Mac says as he hugs him.

“You two, brother. And by the way, who is Riley?” Steve asks. “Everybody is watching you while you are whispering something.” He laughs slightly.

“I’ll tell you when we meet for some coffee.” Mac says. They say goodbye, and Mac continues to shop. He won’t be whispering anymore though, since every eyes are on him. He really embarrassed himself.

He found everything he needed, and brought himself a small chocolate bar so he can eat on the way back. He hasn’t ate since they went to Shanghai. So yeah, he was starved. He gets out of the store as he opens the candy bar. On his way home though, he has a feeling he is being followed since he left the store. He finished his candy bar and threw away the trash. He glances behind him to see a guy with a black jacket and a black hat walking in his direction. Maybe he is just being paranoid.

But just to be sure, he sees an ally way coming up. He walks in the ally way and quickly hides behind the wall. He takes a peek and sees that the person is gone. He will admit he was a bit scared, since Murdoc is somewhere out there. As he is about to continue to walk back home, someone pokes him from behind. He quickly turns around and sees the person with the black jacket.

“Boo.” He lifts his hand and hits Mac in the head. And that’s the last thing Mac remembers when he wakes up on a chair tied up. He feels a sharp pain in his right arm. His vision is blurry but if he had to guess, there is a needle in his arm. _‘Probably drugged’_ Mac thinks.

“Oh, you’re awake. Lovely.” _‘That voice…I know that voice…’_ Mac lifts his head up. He is so numb from the drug, he can barely move. His vision gets a little better, and he can see the man’s face now. And it’s not a face he wanted to see.

“Murdoc.” Mac mutters.

“The one and only.” Murdoc says with that stupid smile he always makes. “It’s been a while, Angus.” Mac squeezes his eyes shut as he knows what’s coming. He opens his eyes and looks around, searching for a way out of this. But he realizes that Murdoc picked the same kind of rope that was around Diane’s scarf in Vancouver. That rope couldn’t be cut with scissors. It needed leverage. So, he doesn’t know how he will get out of this one. _‘Great…’_

He also sees that there is another person tied up to a chair as well a bit far next to him.

“Murdoc, you’re not gonna get away with this. Jack and the others will come.” Mac says weakly.

“Oh, I really hope so. That is my plan.” Murdoc says as he takes out his phone. _‘What?’_

“What do you mean?” Mac asks.

“Calm down, MacGyver. Story time later.” Murdoc says. Mac sighs and then tries to form a fist. But he can’t even squeeze. This drug is ruining him. He looks up, left and right. They were in a big warehouse. The two of them were in the middle of the warehouse, and Murdoc was in front of them away with his phone. Probably telling his client that he has the other guy.

He looks over to the other guy. Mac has never seen someone as scared as this guy. He was trembling, eyes watery, he also has bruises on his face. ‘Murdoc gave him a beating while I was unconscious probably…’ Mac says to himself. He was breathing shakily, and he was wet. Wet from…. _’Gasoline?’_

#

Mac thought he smelled gasoline when he woke up, that’s because the guy next to him was covered in that stuff. He sees the guy tense up, shaking his head and with closed eyes mumbling something Mac couldn’t understand.

“Alright, Jeffrey,” Murdoc says as he turns around to face the guy. His name is Jeffrey apparently. “I would love to continue to have our fun but as you can see…” Murdoc says as he glances at Mac.

“Please, don’t do this.” Jeffrey sobs. Mac sees Murdoc reaching behind him. _‘A gun’_ Nope. Murdoc takes out a lighter, lights it up and throws it in Jeffrey’s lap which sets him on fire.

“NO!! NO!!!” Jeffrey screams as the flames cover him. Mac has never witnessed something like this. When he saw Jeffrey moving while the flames were on him, burning him alive, hearing him scream, he started trembling, panicking. He has never heard a person scream this loud before.

Mac looked away. He couldn’t watch. He didn’t want to watch. _‘Am I up next?’_ Mac heard Murdoc approach him. _‘No, please…’_ But Murdoc didn’t do anything to him…yet. He just grabbed Mac’s head and pointed it towards Jeffrey. Mac caught a glimpse of him moving and screaming under those flames before he closed his eyes shut. He felt weak because of the drug and he couldn’t get his head out from Murdoc’s hands.

Murdoc saw that Mac closed his eyes and smiled. _‘Oh, you are gonna watch.’_ With his thumbs he opens Mac’s eyes. Mac couldn’t do anything now. He couldn’t close his eyes and couldn’t move his head away. And now he was just staring at Jeffrey being burned alive. He can see that Jeffrey’s body is turning black with some places red because of his flesh.

This was torture. And that’s what Murdoc loves. Mac let out some tears when he saw Jeffrey slowly stopping to move and his screams started going quiet. It wasn’t long before he stopped screaming and moving. Mac just watched someone being burned alive. Murdoc lets go of Mac’s head, only to go grab a fire extinguisher and put out the fire remaining on Jeffrey’s body.

“What a beautiful sight, right?” Murdoc says.

“You’re sick…” Mac whispers shakily. Murdoc just laughs. Mac has never met a guy like Murdoc, and he thinks he never will either. This guy is something else. He is the freaking Devil. Murdoc puts down the fire extinguisher and gets behind Jeffrey’s burned body. Murdoc grabs the chair in which Jeffrey’s body is sitting and starts dragging him to a door at the back. Mac glances at them, and he sees Jeffrey again. His whole body is black. It looks like if you touch it, it will fall into ashes.

#

Mac was just sitting there, alone while Murdoc went outside. He starts turning and twisting his arms, trying to get them out. But it’s no use. This rope is unbelievably strong, and he was tied up tightly. There’s no way of getting out of here by himself. The scenes of Jeffrey just keep popping up in his head. They won’t go away…and they never will go away. That moment is gonna be stuck inside Mac’s head for the rest of his life.

Without help he is not going anywhere. Who knows if Jack comes on time to save him. _‘Jack…’_ Jack, Riley and the others are probably waiting for him right now. They are probably laughing their asses off because of Bozer’s jokes. Mac hopes they realize that he has been gone for too long and start looking for him. Because if they don’t, he is a dead man. And his death will probably be terribly painful.

He hears the door of the warehouse open and he sees Murdoc approach him holding a suitcase. He puts the suitcase on the table and opens it. Mac can’t quite see what’s in there because of Murdoc in the way, but he sees Murdoc taking out a pair of scissors and putting them on the table. _‘What’s he gonna do with scissors…’_ Mac asks himself. Well, from what he saw Murdoc do to Jeffrey, he is not counting out anything.

Murdoc starts approaching him and Mac was really scared. Really, really scared. Mac keeps his head down, not making eye contact with Murdoc. Murdoc arrives right in front of him and just stands there. Mac had no idea what was happening. He decided to lift his head up and see Murdoc, only when he did that he received a backhand slap from him.

“Oh, damn that felt good!” Murdoc says. Mac started breathing heavily when he heard that stupid happy voice. He was now furious and scared at the same time. He felt Murdoc grabbing his T-Shirt and starting to cut it from the bottom. He cuts it to the top, and then moves on to the sleeves so he can easily grab the T-Shirt and take it off from the back. Which he does.

“How is Riley, huh?” Murdoc asks as he walks around Mac. “Did she forgive you yet?” Mac was just remaining silent. The last thing he wants is a conversation with Murdoc about Riley.

“You know what MacGyver? How about I make you an offer?” Murdoc asks as he takes a chair and sits in front of Mac. _‘What does this prick have to offer me?’_ Mac asks himself. “You could join me. Me and you. We will be unstoppable team. Killing people that deserve to die. I wouldn’t turn down an offer like that. Would you?” Murdoc asks. Mac lifts his head up so he can look Murdoc in the eyes while saying this.

“I would never join you, you sick prick.” He says.

“Oh, you would, if you have no choice.” Murdoc says as he stands up. “Now,” he says as he takes off his gloves, “time to have some fun.” His evil smile appears on his face. _‘Here we go…’._

Well, that wasn’t the worst. Mac took a couple of punches to the face and stomach. He is used to that. But he knows Murdoc is taking this slowly. He is not done yet. Murdoc goes over to the suitcase and takes out a…knife. _‘Shit…’_ Mac mutters to himself. Murdoc can see the fear in Mac’s eyes everytime. And that makes him want to hurt him even more.

“I see fear in those eyes, Angus. That turns me on.” Murdoc says with a smile.

“Just get me untied and I’ll cool you off.” Mac says. Which is not true. And he knows that. _‘Why did I even say that…’_

“Hohohoho. Let me tell you something, Angus. You should not be threatening the guy that can do anything he wants to you, as you just sit there.” Murdoc says. He puts the knife on Mac’s right upper arm, and drags it up, making a long thin cut. Mac hisses at the pain.

Murdoc sees a drop of blood flow down from the cut down Mac’s arm. “You have no idea how much I’m enjoying this, MacGyver.” Murdoc says with a laugh. Mac winces. He can’t do anything. He is defeated at the moment. He just hopes his friends come through that door before Murdoc gets bored and finishes everything. But Murdoc’s plan is for them to get here and save Mac. That still confuses him.

Murdoc sees Mac lost in his thoughts. And he knows how to make him come back to reality. Mac still in his thoughts facing the floor doesn’t notice Murdoc back up in front of him slightly. Murdoc is just far away from Mac so he can swing is knife and make a small thin cut on the left side of Mac’s chest just above the scar he got in Italy. And he does and Mac groans loud at the pain.

He does the same thing on the right sight of his chest. Mac breaths furiously, like a werewolf. Mac glances at Murdoc with pure fire in his eyes now. The fear is not completely gone, but it has been overtaken with rage and anger.

Murdoc drops the knife and takes out a lighter. He lights it up and Mac’s eyes go wide. When he sees fire, he sees Jeffrey. That’s when the fear overtook the rage and anger. Mac starts shaking as Murdoc approaches him.

“I’ve never done this to anyone, so apologies if it hurts.” Murdoc says sarcastically. Murdoc puts the fire on the cut that is on Mac’s right upper arm and he goes up and down. That must really hurt, because Mac screams loud. He probably never screamed in pain like this before.

“Stop!!!” Mac yells. But Murdoc doesn’t. He keeps the fire on the cut for another 5 seconds and then finally closes the lighter. Mac screams and groans at the pain. He looks over and sees the cut is black and the skin around it is burned. His eyes are watery because of the pain. He hears Murdoc laughing as he goes back to the table. Then Murdoc comes back with two wires in his hands that had been cut. He places them on Mac’s chest and with some tape, sticks them on there. He goes back to the table, and then Mac feels electricity hitting him. He screams in pain and quickly it stops.

“Fantastic. It works.” Murdoc says. He approaches Mac and kneels before him looking him straight in the eyes. “You know, maybe after I’m done with you and the Phoenix, I might as well go and get Riley, no? Have some fun with her if you know what I mean.” Murdoc says with a smile. Mac’s eyes go wide at words that came out of Murdoc’s mouth. Mac tries to jump towards Murdoc but it’s no use.

“I swear, if you touch her I will…” Mac is interrupted by Murdoc.

“You’ll do what? Come back from the dead so you can kill me?” Murdoc asks. “We aren’t in The Walking Dead, Angus.” He says and he laughs.

That’s when Mac hears a familiar sound. His phone is ringing. _‘Jack.’_ They must’ve realized that he’s been gone for a long time. They both turn towards Mac’s jacket where the noise was coming from. Mac smiles but that smile doesn’t last long after what he hears Murdoc say.

“Finally! It was about time!” Murdoc says. He stands up and goes to get the phone from the Jacket. He comes back and answers but stays quiet.

“Hey, man. Where are you?” Mac hears Jack ask. Murdoc mutes the mic and points his gun towards Mac.

“Make a sound and you’re dead.” Murdoc says. Mac keeps his mouth shut and just hopes Jack shows up here after this call. “Smile.” Murdoc says as he requests a video chat with Jack. By the sound the phone makes, Mac knows that Jack accepted the request. The next thing he hears is something breaking.

“Mac!!” Jack shouts. Murdoc has his gun pointed at Mac, so he remains quiet. Plus, Murdoc has his mic muted do even if he talks it’s no use. Then he hears multiple gasps. The others must’ve heard Jack and came to him. Murdoc unmutes the mic and turns the camera to show himself.

“Why hello there Phoenix. How are you all doing on this lovely evening.” Murdoc says.

“What did you do to him?” Mac hears Jack growl.

“Oh, Angus and I had a little fun before you called. Well…I did, I don’t know about him.” Murdoc replies.

“You are dead, you son of a bitch!” Jack shouts. Murdoc wanted to show them that it is a mistake to threaten him, so he presses the button that’s in his hand, and Mac gets hit with electricity. He screams in pain. His face is probably red and he thinks his head will explode. The electrocuting continues for more seconds until he hears a familiar voice yell.

“Stop, please!!” When Murdoc heard Riley’s voice, he released the button and Mac stopped screaming. He couldn’t see Riley cause it was Murdoc facing the screen.

“Is that Riley I hear? My BFF’s girlfriend?” Murdoc glances at Mac which he was looking at him with a death stare. “So that’s why you brought all of that stuff from the store. You were gonna make it snow for her. How cute.” Mac closes his eyes. _‘Well…there goes that…’_ Mac should’ve known that Murdoc will say that. And now he doesn’t want to look at the phone, so he just looks down.

“Oh…I guess the surprise is ruined now.” Murdoc says.

“What do you want, Murdoc?” Jack asks?

“Oh, I think you know what I want, Jack. I want to watch the Phoenix Foundation burn down with every single living soul in it. So, I’m making a team. Contacted some friends, this and that.” Murdoc says. Mac is hearing that for the first time. Murdoc never mentioned that while he was torturing him.

“You and I both know you don’t have friends, Doc. And nobody will join your stupid little team. Everybody is against you. Now, if you do something else to Mac, I swear to God, you are gonna wish you never lived!” Jack shouts. Murdoc’s face fell and all Mac could see was anger.

“Let me tell you something Jacky boy. Those who are not with me, are against me!” Murdoc says with a raised voice. “And, I crush anyone…” Murdoc presses the button and electricity hits Mac again, making him scream loud “…who stands against me!” Murdoc says and he hangs up. He keeps holding the button for a few seconds before he releases.

“Everything is going as I planned.” Murdoc says.

“What plan?!” Mac shouts. Murdoc stops whatever he was doing and faces Mac.

“I made it real easy for your friends to find us. And when they all get here inside, I will be watching in delight from the warehouse on the opposite side.” Murdoc says but he left the big part out. “I wish we could continue but I have to go and get my popcorn ready. Ciao.” Murdoc says as he takes his suitcase and gets out of the warehouse.

Mac was all alone now with his thoughts. What did Murdoc mean? ‘I will be watching in delight’ said Murdoc. And what does Murdoc love to watch. People die. So he is probably gonna kill us all. And the most logical way to kill us all while we are all in the warehouse…is with a bomb. So there is a bomb somewhere in this building, and Mac can’t warn his friends. The bomb is probably with a timer since he didn’t see a detonator with Murdoc. The problem is that he doesn’t know the time. What he needs to do is get out of this chair, find the bomb and deactivate it before the others get here. He leans down and with his teeth, he takes out the needle from his hand. He groans because it hurts. Everything hurts. But now it’s not the time to complain.

_AFTER THE PHONE CALL, AT MAC’S HOUSE_

“NOO!!!” Jack yells after Murdoc hanged up. He just stares at the black screen on his phone. They were having fun, laughing and eating while Mac was getting tortured by Murdoc. ‘I should’ve called sooner…’ Jack says to himself as he brings a fist to his forehead and closes his eyes shut. He then turns around to see everyone else. Riley was crying in Diane’s shoulder, Bozer was cursing under his breath, Leanna had her hands cover her mouth while looking down on the floor, and Matty was just staring at Jack.

Jack saw cuts on Mac’s chest and right arm. He had bruises everywhere, and he was bleeding from his nose. Not to mention he had two wires on his chest and Murdoc electrocuted him in front of their eyes. They were all just standing there, feeling useless.

It’s like Jack’s mouth was closed shut. He couldn’t say anything to the other after that phone call. Riley calmed down a bit as Diane was slowly stroking her hair. Riley got out of Diane’s embrace and rushes to the hall. When she gets back, Jack sees her laptop in his hands. Nobody knows what she is doing, and nobody got time to ask because she says something that is not good.

“Call can’t be traced.” Riley says with a shaky voice. “I’ll try the traffic cameras at the store. See where Murdoc got Mac.” Riley finishes.

“Good idea.” Matty adds. Riley goes and sits down at the table. Before she starts typing, she wipes the tears from her cheeks. There is now way she will let Murdoc kill Mac. She is going to find them if it’s the last thing she does, and then finally put Murdoc away for good.

They wait for a minute for Riley to hack the traffic cameras. When she did, everbody gathered behind her. She finds a camera that shows the entrance to the house and rewinds it.

“There.” Bozer points to the screen. And there is Mac. Leaving the store with a smile. “Follow him.” Riley started switching from camera to camera. While they were following Mac, they noticed a person in a black jacket has been behind him since he got out of the store. They see Mac look behind him and speed up a little.

“That must be Murdoc following him.” Leanna says. They see the person turn into an ally way, and Mac turns into the next one. Maybe if he turned around before he turned in the ally way, this wouldn’t have happened. Riley switches to a camera that has a clear view of the ally way. They see Mac hiding against the wall, peeking to see if he’s still being followed. Then they see the person appear behind Mac. They see him poke Mac from behind, and when Mac turns, the person knocks him out.

“Son of a bitch.” Jack whispers. They see Murdoc drag Mac like he is a piece of trash, and puts him in a car in the backseat. They see Murdoc get in the driver seat and he drives off. Riley is switching from camera to camera, following Murdoc as he drives across LA. The windows of the back doors on the car and dark, so no one spots Mac tied up in the back.

Murdoc turns into an ally way and stops the car. He gets out of the car, and goes into a building.

“He isn’t taking, Mac.” Bozer says. Murdoc left Mac in the car while he was in the building doing God knows what. After a few minutes, they see Murdoc opening the door with a kick as he drags another person with him. But this person is conscious. He is trying to fight Murdoc, but he is tied up with a tape on his mouth. Murdoc puts him in the back seat with Mac and they are off. Riley follows them for 10 minutes, and then Murdoc makes a turn and Riley can’t follow him anymore cause there are no cameras in that area.

“I lost him. There are no cameras in the area that entered.” Riley says.

“Alright, let’s go there and search.” Jack says. He goes over to the counter to get his keys from the GTO. He sees Bozer, Leanna and Matty getting ready, and he also sees Riley getting ready. “Hey, hey, Ri, what are you doing?” Jack asks.

“I’m coming with you.” Riley answers.

“That’s not happening.” Jack says. “This is Murdoc we are talking about. I am not letting you near…”

“I’m coming Jack!” Riley interrupts him. “And you can’t stop me. Now let’s go save Mac and put that monster behind bars.” Riley says as she walks out of the house. Bozer and Leanna shrug at Jack as they follow Riley.

Jack goes over to Diane. “I’ll keep her safe. I promise.”

“I know you will.” Diane says. Jack smiles at her and goes to his GTO where Riley, Leanna, Bozer and Matty are waiting. Jack is breaking every single traffic rule. He keeps passing cars as they beep at him, but with Matty by his side, the cops won’t be a problem. They get stopped 2 or 3 times by them, but like Jack said, Matty is with them. They arrive at the area where Murdoc turned, and see two warehouses. They get out of the car and spot the car Murdoc drove.

Jack starts walking towards the right warehouse. “What makes you think it’s that one?” Bozer asks.

“Right is always right.” Jack says as he takes out his gun. “Stay there.”

Mac, meanwhile tried everything. He tried to cut the rope with his teeth, but nothing. Tried to get out by moving and twisting his hands, but nothing. _‘I have to get out. I have to!’_ he says to himself and he tries harder and harder but nothing. He screams in frustration. That’s when he hears a familiar engine outside the warehouse. _‘A GTO…Jack…no, no, no…’_ Mac tries again to pull the hand out from the rope, but he feels like his wrist is about to get ripped off.

Mac hears the door of the warehouse opening. When he glances at the door, he sees Jack with a gun in his hand. “Mac! Guys, he’s in here!” Jack says. “He’s in here?”

“No.” Mac replies as Bozer, Leanna, Matty and Riley get in the warehouse. _‘Riley? What is she doing here?!’_ Mac wonders. Next thing he knows that she is in front of him.

“Are you okay?” Riley asks as she puts her hand on his cheek. God he loves her touch. But then he remembers that they are in danger.

“You guys have got to get out of here. Murdoc planted a bomb somewhere in here and I’m pretty sure it’s activated. He lured you guys into a trap!” Mac says. They all glance at each other with wide eyes.

“Where is it?” Jack asks.

“I don’t know. Please you guys got to get out of here.” Mac says. Jack looks at the ropes on Mac’s hands and he sees that it’s the same kind of rope that the Collective used to kill Diane. It’s not gonna be easy getting Mac out of here. So he has only one idea left.

“Alright, Bozer, Leanna and me will start searching for the bomb. Matty, Riley go outside.” Jack says. Bozer and Leanna nod and split up.

“I’m staying with Mac.” Riley says as she takes a hold of his hand.

“Ri, please listen to me.” Jack says.

“You all should get out.” Mac says.

“Not a chance, man. We are not leaving you.” Jack says.

“That’s right. We are not leaving you.” Riley says, also trying to say to Jack that she isn’t going outside. Jack groans and starts searching for the bomb. Matty sees Mac’s jacket on the floor and starts approaching it.

“Riley,” Mac squeezes her hand, “you have to get out of here, please.” Mac says. Riley looks him in his blue eyes and shakes her head.

“No.” she covers his hand with both of hers. “Never.” Riley finishes. They stare at each other eyes, before Mac saw Riley take a quick look at his lips. _‘Could this lead to something?’_ Mac asks himself. Then Matty comes over with Mac’s SAK which she got from his jacket and gives it to Riley.

“Start cutting the rope. Maybe it will work.” Matty says. Riley wastes no time and gets to it.

“I found the bomb!” Bozer says. Matty hears him over the comms.

“Bozer found the bomb.” Matty takes out her phone and calls him. Bozer answers and now Mac can guide him in disarming the bomb.

“What does the timer say?” Mac asks.

“1 minute.” Bozer responds.

“Matty, Murdoc is in the opposite warehouse.” Mac says and Matty nods.

“Jack, Leanna, go get him.” Matty says.

“Copy.”

“Alright, Boze, tell me what you see.” Mac says. Riley is trying her best to cut the rope and it’s kind of working.

“Five wires. But all in the same color.” Bozer says. Mac can hear the fear in his voice. Mac needs to think, about every lesson Pena has thought him. He surely had practiced a bomb with the same wires. “Thirty seconds, Mac!”

“Not helping!” Mac says. _‘Come on, Mac, think!’_ And he got it. “Bozer, try and feel every wire. The one that will have to two bumps is it!” He hears Bozer exhale and now just waits for him to find the wire.

“You said two or three?” Bozer asks.

“Two.”

“Are you one hundred percent sure?”

“Yes!”

“Alright, cutting the wire now.” Everybody holds their breath and prays. If that’s not it, they die instantly, if that’s it, they’ll go home. They hear Bozer cut the wire and….nothing happens. “Timer stopped at 0:03.” Bozer says with a shaky but a happy voice.

Riley jumps in happiness and hugs Mac carefully, while Matty grins. Ten she hears something over her comms.

“Don’t move!” Jack shouts. They made it to the warehouse, carefully so they don’t get spotted. And they didn’t. They made their way quietly to the top floor to find Murdoc sitting in a chair watching the opposite warehouse through a window. He was far though, so that’s why he didn’t see Jack and Leanna.

“Stand up and put your hands behind your head.” Leanna orders. Murdoc slowly stands up and puts his hands behind his head. Jack puts the gun away and approaches him.

“If he moves, put one in him.” Jack says as he grabs Murdoc’s hands. He puts them behind his back and cuffs him. He turns him over to see a disappointed and angry look on Murdoc’s face. “Not so happy now, huh Looney Tunes?” Jack says and for fun, punches Murdoc hard.

When Jack handed Murdoc to other Phoenix agents, he went back into the warehouse to see Riley finally cutting the ropes from Mac’s hands. When Mac tries stand up, he winces and puts his hand on his ribs. ‘A couple are broken’ Jack says to himself. He goes over to help him stand up.

“We saw Murdoc taking another guy with you. Where is he?” Jack asks. Mac stops walking and starts breathing shakily. It wasn’t hard to notice. When Jack saw his eyes, he saw only fear. ‘What the hell?’

“Mac?” Riley adds.

“Um…he is in that…room.” Mac says with a shaky voice and points to the door at the back. Bozer switches places with Jack as Jack goes to get the other guy. Only when he gets in the room, he finds a burned body on a chair. _‘Oh my God…’_ And from the way Mac reacted when Jack asked where the guy was, he knows what happened.

_THE HOSPITAL_

Jack and other Phoenix agents took Murdoc to a blacksite. Bozer, Leanna, Riley, Diane and Matty waited for some news from the doctors on Mac. A few minutes later, the nurse came out of Mac’s room. They all stand up and face her.

“He’s gonna be fine. Two broken ribs and the big cut on his arm was burned.” _‘Yikes’_ Bozer says to himself. “We needed to clean that. He was also drugged with antihistamines, so we are getting it out of his system now. Because of the broken ribs, he’ll stay here for 2 days.” The nurse says.

“Can we see him?” Riley asks.

“Of course.” The nurse says with a smile. They nod and all enter the room to find Mac laying in bed, parts of his face covered in bruises. He smiles at them as they enter the room. Riley takes a seat next to the bed, while the others stand.

“Jack and other Phoenix agents are taking Murdoc to a blacksite.” Matty says.

“I’m glad that’s over.” Mac says. “And couldn’t you guys realize I was gone for a long time a bit sooner? Or was Bozer telling you a story or something?” Mac jokes. They all let out a small laugh and then Jack enters the room.

“What’s the news?” Jack asks.

“Two broken ribs and a burn on my right arm. Need to stay here for 2 days because of the ribs.” Mac says.

“Alright. Anyway, Murdoc is safely placed in the blacksite. He won’t see the sunlight again, and we ain’t gonna see him again.” Jack says with a smile. But his smile fades when he remembers that he wanted to talk about the other guy that he found. “Can you guys give me and Mac a minute alone?” Jack asks. Everyone gives him a look of confusion.

“Yes. Let’s go everyone. Diane, Riley I would like to talk to you outside please.” Matty says. And she gives them a smile to show that it is nothing bad. But a big opportunity for them. When they leave Jack and Mac alone in the room, she turns to them.

“How would you two like a job at the Phoenix?” Matty asks. They both look shocked by that question.

“What?” Diane asks. Matty laughs a bit.

“Riley, your skills are something I have never seen before. The way you hack things so easily, you could be a big part of the Phoenix Foundation. You don’t have to be in the field if you don’t want to, of course, but if you want to, you have Jack, Mac, Bozer, Leanna and me to teach you everything there is to know to become an agent.” Matty says. “And Diane, our tour guy had just taken an offer for another job. How would you like to show guests our think tank?” Matty asks with a smile.

Riley can’t believe this is happening. Her last job was a living hell. The costumers being assholes. But now, she has a chance to work with the people she loves the most. How could she turn down this offer? She looks over to her mom, and gives her a nod.

“We would love to.” Diane replies. Matty’s smile grows even wider.

She shakes their hands and says “Welcome to the Phoenix Foundation.”

“What’s up, Jack?” Mac asks. Jack has a sad look on his face. He exhales and takes a sit next to the bed where Riley was previously sitting.

“I need you to talk to me.” Jack replies. Mac furrows his eyebrows.

“About what?” he asks.

“About the guy I found in the back room in the warehouse.” Jack answers. Mac goes pale as his look of confusion turns into a look of fear. “Dealing with it alone is gonna make it worse. Talking to somebody about it will make it easier. So talk to me, buddy.” Jack says as he grabs Mac’s hand and squeezes.

#

Mac remains quiet for a few seconds as he is looking down. He gulps before he starts to speak. “When I woke up, tied up on that chair…I saw him next to me. His name was Jeffrey, I don’t know if he was a criminal or something. Then I realized he was covered in gasoline. He begged Murdoc, he was trembling, breathing shakily so much….and Murdoc just threw a lighter in his lap.” Mac says. Jack winces as he imagined the scene. “I looked away, but….” A tear slides down Mac’s cheek, “the sick bastard caught my head and turned it towards Jeffrey, and he opened my eyes. I couldn’t fight because of the drug, and I was there….being forced to watch a human being burned alive, Jack. The way he screamed, the way he was moving while the flames were burning him, his body after….” Mac ends with a shaky voice. He couldn’t talk anymore.

 _‘He forced Mac…’_ All Jack wants to do know is go back to the blacksite and end Murdoc’s life. Jack knows that Mac will have that image in his brain for a long time, and it’s gonna take him a while before he recovers. Jack hops on the bed and brings Mac’s head to his chest, letting him sob. He hates seeing Mac like this cause he is one of the strongest people Jack knows. But Murdoc really broke him.

#

_2 DAYS LATER, DIANE’S APARTMENT_

“Ri, we are gonna make you the most badass women out there! Mac can teach you some weird stuff,” Jack says and Riley laughs at that, “I’ll teach you how to break someone’s nose if they piss you off, Leanna will teach you every other martial art there is, and Bozer….Bozer can’t teach you anything for the field honestly.” Jack says and Riley laughs hard.

“Thanks, Jack, I’m really excited about this. My last job was Hell, but now I get to work with the people I love. And saving lives in the process.” Riley says with a smile.

“That’s my girl!” Jack says and hugs her tight.

“Who’s ready for some chocolate cake?” Diane calls happily.

“Uh, us.” Jack says sounding like it was obvious. “Hey, Ri, how about you take the car and drop some chocolate cake to Mac.” Jack says as he fills his glass with water.

“Okay, sure.” Riley says and she didn’t even hesitate. Diane gives her two pieces in a box. Riley grabs the car keys and she is off. Jack knows Riley wants to see Mac, but that’s not the only reason he sent her there.

“You think she’ll like it?” Diane asks.

“No, she’ll love it.” Jack says. Diane grins and kisses Jack on the lips.

Riley arrives at Mac’s house. She knows now that Mac leaves his door unlocked so she goes in. She puts the cake on the kitchen counter. She goes to the living room, but he isn’t there. She goes to his bedroom, knocks before opening the door, but he’s not there either. The bathroom door is fully open so he can’t be in there, so she checks the one place she hasn’t checked yet. The balcony. And there he is staring at the city lights. The fire is out surprisingly to Riley. Mac has a blanket on him with a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Hey, Mac.” Riley says as he approaches him. He turns around and smiles when he sees her.

“Hey.” He says as they hug. Mac’s ribs are still healing so Riley is very careful with the hugs.

“How are you feeling?” Riley asks.

“Better. Was hoping for a great and beautiful Christmas though, kind of disappointed we didn’t have that.” Mac says.

“I’m just glad you’re safe and okay.” Riley says as she puts a hand on Mac’s left bicep. “I brought some chocolate cake. Do you want some?” Riley asks.

“Yes, please. I’m starving.” Mac says. Riley laughs and she goes to the kitchen. She grabs to plates, put one piece on each plate, and goes back to the balcony. While they eat in silence, Riley asks something.

“Were you really gonna make it snow for me?” Riley asks. Mac, who was looking at the cake, freezes. A sad look takes over his face.

“Jack told me you never had a white Christmas before. So I wanted it to be a surprise. But then Murdoc happened. I’m sorry…” Mac says quietly. When he glanced at Riley though, he saw a grin on her face. A big one. She leans in and gives him a soft and beautiful kiss on the cheek. Mac’s cheeks are like two tomatoes.

“Knowing you would have done that is enough for me.” Riley says with a smile. And he returns one. He finishes eating his cake and puts the plate down.

“I’ll be right back, gonna get myself a glass of water.” Mac says as he gets up. In the process he groans quietly cause of the ribs.

“No, sit, I’ll get some for you.” Riley says as she puts her cake down.

“No, please. I need to start moving around or I’m gonna lose my mind.” Mac says with a laugh. Riley sighs and sits back down. She picks up the plate and finishes her cake. She puts the plate down and glances at the beautiful city lights. _‘LA is amazing’_ she says to herself. Then she feels something cold hitting her face. She wipes it off and her fingers are wet. Then she spots something white on her sleeve. _‘A snowflake…’_

When she looks up, snow is coming down everywhere on the balcony from the roof. She stands up slowly and covers her mouth with her hands as tears are starting to form in her eyes. Mac appears from the corner with a grin and a remote in his hand.

“Mac…” she doesn’t know what to say. She is speechless. For the first time in her life she is lost for words. Mac stands in front of her.

“You knowing that I would have made it snow for you isn’t enough for me. I had to make it snow for you.” Mac says. Riley lets the tears fall down her cheeks. Riley wraps her arms around Mac’s neck and hugs him. Mac closes his eyes and smiles. This feeling was the best feeling in the world for him. He puts his arms around her and holds her for a long time.

“Thank you.” Riley says as they break apart.

“You are welcome.” Mac says softly. Riley kneels down and makes a small snowball and throws it softly at Mac so it doesn’t hurt him.

“You have no idea what you’ve just done.” Mac says with a laugh as he kneels down slowly and makes a snowball. They have a snowball fight for a while. But the throwing is soft so they don’t hurt each other. Riley’s laughs while they were having the snowball fight were the most beautiful thing. Getting back from the hospital and making the machine the whole day was totally worth it.

Mac watches Riley as she is catching some snowflakes. Mac is so in love with her. He can’t hold it anymore. _‘And you will not ruin anything, Mac, trust me. You’re one of the most important people of her life.’_ Jack’s words kept repeating in Mac’s head, which gave him motivation for this. It is time.

“Riley,” Mac calls her. Riley turns to face him with a grin. She has snowflakes all over her hair. When Mac sees her, it’s like he can’t breathe from how beautiful this woman is. _‘Wow…she is gonna kill me one day.’_

“What’s up?” Riley asks. She noticed Mac being a bit tensed, nervous most of all.

“I’ve never done this before so if it’s terrible I’m sorry in advance.” Mac says. “Ever since we met each other, my only purpose was to make you happy. Make you feel loved. When I saw you at the store where you worked, I saw the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen.” Mac sighs. “I’m just gonna get to the point. I really hope this doesn’t ruin what we have now, but, Riley Davis…I’m in love with you.” Mac says and Riley freezes. “I’ve been in love with you since the day I met you. The beautiful times we had together, going on walks, the Halloween party. How you were there for me when I needed you. And a lot of other stuff. I love making you laugh because for those few seconds, I made you happy and seeing you happy, it makes me happy too. Like now for example.” Mac says as he looks at the snow still falling on them. “I understand if you don’t feel the same way. If you don’t, I hope we can still be friends.” Mac finishes.

Riley has her mouth slightly open, and her eyes focused on Mac. Her ears caught every single word of that speech, and for Riley it was like a dream come true. She wanted this for a long time. Well…since they met. A tear comes down from her eyes from happiness cause Mac feels the same way she does for him.

Riley’s silence is bringing down Mac’s confidence. Has he made a big mistake by telling her how he feels? _‘Probably…’_ He exhales and slightly looks down. Was he about to lose Riley? At the thought he winced slightly. But that thought was gone when he felt Riley’s hand cupping his cheeks. She slowly lifted his head up and started to lean in. When Mac felt Riley’s lips on his, he had a feeling he was going to collapse.

 _‘Am I in heaven?’_ Because that’s what it felt like. Kissing Riley Davis made him forget about everything in his mind. It was just him and her. Riley is the one who breaks the kiss, but their foreheads stay connected.

“Mac…I’m in love with you too.” Riley whispers softly. When Mac heard that, he was the happiest man alive. And the smile that grew on his face was proof of that. He is the one that kisses her this time. With the remote still in his hand, he presses the button so the machine stops and drops it on the floor. The kiss is soft, isn’t rushed, it was just them, testing the waters. Mac lifts Riley up and she wraps her legs around his waist.

He carries her inside and pushes her against the wall. His lips go down to her neck as she starts unbuttoning his shirt. The moan that escapes Riley’s mouth makes him weak.

“Should we slow down?” Mac asks while trying to catch his breath. With their foreheads touching and their eyes closed, Riley shakes her head.

“No…don’t slow down.” Riley whispers. She smacks her lips against his as Mac’s shirt gets thrown onto the floor.

“You’re amazing.” Mac whispers.

“So are you.” Riley whispers back.

He carries her to his bedroom. He sits down on the bed with Riley in his lap, not even thinking about breaking the kiss. Riley does though, only to put her hand on Mac’s bare chest and push him down. Riley climbs on the top, with a knee on each side of Mac, carefully not to hurt Mac as his ribs aren’t 100%, and takes her shirt off. Mac watches in amazement at how beautiful she is. He knows she is being careful with him, but right now, even if she isn't careful, he might not feel a thing. Riley throws her shirt on the floor and she leans down to kiss Mac with her hands on his cheeks brushing her thumb below his eye. Mac puts his hands on her waist and he knows that this night is gonna be the best night of his life.

#

_He sniffs, and again, and again, until he realized that the guy next to him is covered in gasoline._

_“Please, don’t do this.” The guy sobs. But Murdoc doesn’t care at all, because he throws the lighter in the guy’s lap._

_“NO!!! NO!!!!”_

#

Mac quickly opens his eyes. He looks around and realizes that he is in his room. He sighs in relief. It doesn’t shock him that he is having a nightmare about Jeffrey. He looks over to his left to see Riley sleeping peacefully. He feels the sweat on his forehead, so he puts on his boxers and sweatpants, and goes to the bathroom so he can splash some water on his face.

Then he goes to the kitchen and drinks a glass of water. The scenes from the warehouse are gonna stay with Mac for a long time. He will have nightmares that’s for sure. And he hates that. But on the bright side, Murdoc is finally locked up, so he doesn’t have to worry about him anymore.

His hair dried up and he decides to go back to bed. Before he climbs on the bed, he stares at Riley. He is so lucky to have someone like Riley in his life, beside him. He climbs on the bed and goes behind Riley. He wraps his arms around her stomach and that wakes Riley up a little.

“Mac…” Riley whispers sounding sleepy. Mac kisses her shoulder, and when she turns her head to face him, he gives her a kiss on the lips. Riley smiles against his lips as she puts her hand on his cheek.

“Go back to sleep.” Mac whispers. Riley turns so she lays on her back, and Mac buries his face in her neck. She strokes his hair softly until they both go back to sleep. He can’t get more comfortable than this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry to everyone but I am not good at writing romantic scenes haha. So, I don't know if I wrote it perfect. Chapter 11 will come soon. :D


	11. Large Blade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!! Longest one so far. Since, I told you all that I'm gonna make my stories dark, don't rule out anything in this chapter. Tell me what you think in the comments and leave a kudos if you like it! :D

_ASTANA CITY, KAZAKHSTAN_

It’s been three weeks since Christmas. Three weeks since they locked up Murdoc. Finally! Those three weeks, they all took a break. After the Collective, and the next day after that, Murdoc, Matty gave them a break for three weeks. Mac is all healed up now and is probably the happiest person alive. Everybody at the Phoenix now knows about him and Riley, and so far him being with her, he wouldn’t ask for anything else.

Right now though, he wasn’t having a good time. He and Jack were sent to Kazakhstan to capture a war criminal named Victor. They did…sort of. Exfil was waiting for them on a roof of a building. They got there with Viktor tied up, but Victor was a huge guy. And he didn’t give them an easy time. To be more specific, he tried to get away and headbutted Jack three times so far. So, they put a bag on Victor’s head so he doesn’t see where to aim.

“Come on!” Jack growls as he is giving his everything to drag Victor to the helicopter. “Let’s go!” Jack stops and pushes Victor towards him. Victor without looking, headbutts Jack in the head. He screams in pain and blood starts flowing from his forehead. “That’s three times now!” Jack yells.

“Four.” Mac corrects him. Jack takes a deep breath and headbutts Victor back. “Hey!” Mac shouts.

“Now we’re even, punk!” Jack shouts as he wobbles a bit. “Oh, Mac, I think I got a concussion.” Jack says.

“Yeah, no shit.” Mac says and Victor headbutts Jack again and he falls on the ground.

“Now…now I’m seeing double. Get him, Mac.” Jack says as he tries to get up from the ground but falls again. Mac charges after Victor. He jumps on his back and tries to control him but Victor is too strong.

“Jack, I could use some restraints, man!” Mac says. Victor can’t stop moving and then he crushes Mac against a wall.

“I’m on the ground. One step at a time.” Jack says as he tries to get up again. Mac takes a hard elbow shot at his ribs which just healed. And now they are probably broken, again. As Mac falls to the ground, Jack jumps on Victor’s back.

“Guys, you better hurry up.” They hear Leanna over the comms. “Elvis has friends headed your way.”

“Elvis? I thought you said the target’s name was Victor Henley.” Riley says. Mac smiles when he hears her voice even though his ribs hurt like a bitch. This was Riley’s first mission assisting Mac and Jack. She was joined by Leanna and Bozer in the war room.

“Elvis is the code name we gave him. Every package gets one.” Bozer says with a smile.

“Oh. It’s like a spy speak or something?” Riley asks.

“Yeah, something like that.” Leanna says as she laughs a bit. Riley follows the bad guys that are in the building trying to get to Mac and Jack and save Victor.

“They just got on the elevator.” Riley says.

“Guys, get to the chopper now.” Leanna says.

“Three stories, that means we’ve got…” Mac trails off as his voice is rough and he tries to crawl and get up. Jack didn’t want to hear his explaining right now.

“No, Mac! This is stressful enough!” Jack shouts as he tries to keep Victor under control.

“Well, it wouldn’t be if you had remembered to bring more restrains.” Mac says as he gets up with one hand on his ribs.

“Hey, I’m not Costco!” Jack says.

“Mac, you okay?” Riley asks sounding worried.

“Ribs are probably broken again.” Mac says calmly and then helps Jack by grabbing Victor from the front while Jack was still on Victor’s back.

“The op said one guy. I brought one zip tie.” Jack says. Victor crushes him against the wall and Jack screams in pain. Riley winces at the sound of that. Was she supposed to see and hear Mac and Jack getting hurt? Well, they are joking around while getting hurt so it doesn’t look that bad.

“Well, we learned something today, didn’t we, Jack?” Bozer asks.

“Leanna should have this job!” Jack shouts. Leanna, Bozer and a bit Riley start laughing.

“Remind me to tell Jack about the second rule of thermodynamics.” Mac says as he finds a blue tarp and takes it. “It states that the entropy in any system will always decrease over time.” Mac finishes as he finds a rope.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about over there.” Jack says.

“Basically, it means that everything eventually goes caca.” Mac says.

“Caca. Got it.” Jack says as Victor smacks him in a pole. “I got caca.”

“No, you don’t got it, `cause if you did you would’ve brought more zip ties.” Mac says.

“I’m not the bad guy!” Jack says in a high pitched voice. “I figure if we ever need anything, we’ll just make it, anyway.”

“That’s cute.” Mac says. He extends the tarp and gets the rope ready. “Okay, Jack, hold him still.” Mac says.

“What do you think I’m trying to do?!” Jack says sounding tired.

“Let him go.” Mac says.

“You sure?” Jack asks.

“Yeah.” Mac replies. Jack gets off Victor and pushes him towards the tarp. When Victor hits the tarp, Mac with one end of the tarp in his hand, runs around Victor wrapping him up. Jack approaches Victor and starts holding him. Mac gets the rope around him and tightens it. But because Victor is like a giant, he takes his belt out and puts it around Victor.

“Give me your belt.” Mac says to Jack. He wants to be sure that Victor won’t get out of this one.

“What?!” Jack asks.

“Just give me your belt!” Mac says. Jack with one hand takes out his belt and gives it to Mac. Mac puts it around Victor, and uses one end of the belt to drag him to the helicopter.

“That was fun to watch.” Jack hears the pilot. He looks up to see her smiling. Cynthia was one of the best helicopter pilots out there. She was their pilot a couple of times for exfil, and they know they are safe with her flying the helicopter.

“Glad we could entertain you.” Jack says as he gets into the helicopter.

“Guys, chopper now.” Leanna says sounding frustrated now. Jack sees Mac trying to push Victor in the chopper, but his ribs aren’t helping. Jack grabs Victor and drags him in.

“Come on, big boy, get in here.” Jack says. When Victor was in, Mac quickly got in aswell. He winced when he sat down and puts a hand on his ribs where it was hurting. He opens his eyes and sees men with machine guns approaching them from the door of the roof.

“We should go!” Mac shouts as he closes the door of the chopper.

“Copy that!” Cynthia shouts. When they got off the ground, Mac could hear bullets hitting the bottom of the chopper.

“Hold on to your jewels, boys!” Cynthia says. She always likes to make jokes about them in these situations. After a few moments they hear Leanna, Bozer and Riley cheer.

“Elvis has left the building.” Leanna says.

“Yeah!!” Jack cheers as he fist bumps Mac.

“Mac, bro, why are your ribs always getting broken, man?” Bozer asks with a laugh. Mac exhales and smiles.

“Not the time for jokes, Boze.” Mac says. “Riley, you did great on your first mission.”

“Thank you, Mac.” Riley replies with a grin. She is proud of herself today. She thought that her first mission would be hell, like something really bad is going to happen. Jack takes the bag from Victor’s head, to see a look of defeat.

“Victor!” Jack says cheerily. By the way he is acting he still has a concussion. He puts his arm around Victor’s shoulders and takes out his phone. “Hey, smile for the International Criminal Court.” Jack says as he turns on the selfie camera. Victor tries to say something, but they couldn’t understand him because of the gag he had in his mouth.

Mac looks over and sees Jack taking some pictures. “Ah, there it is!” Jack says. Mac lifts his eyebrows and just shakes his head.

“Hey, now one for my personal dirtbag collection.” Jack says as he glances at Victor who was avoiding Jack’s eyes. “You can have fun with this one if you want to, okay? Something goofy.” Jack says as he lifts the phone again and takes a picture. Victor isn’t even looking at the camera. “Oh, there it is, thank you.”

Victor mumbles something but nobody can understand him. “What? I can’t make that out. Mac, can you make this out?” Jack asks.

“I don’t know, something about ‘I’m sorry I committed all those war crimes.’” Mac says and Victor tries to jump him. That startles Mac a bit as he backs off, the pain in the ribs hitting him like a train. Jack has a hold of Victor though, so he couldn’t touch Mac.

“Hey! Sit down! You just lost your daylight privileges.” Jack says as Mac puts the bag back on Victor’s head. Jack manages to put Victor down. “Settle down!” Jack says. He grabs his phone and sends the photos to Riley.

“Hey, Ri, identify conformation photo coming your way.” Jack says. In the war room, the three of them watch the screen as photos of a happy Jack with a sad Victor come up.

“Good job, fellas. Not a bad first mission without the boss lady being here.” Bozer says. Matty had to go to DC for a couple of days for meetings she had to attend, so they were on their own for this mission. And they succeeded.

“And not a bad way to start 2017 as well. I wish we had beer here.” Jack says.

“The last thing you need right now is beer, Jack.” Mac says with a laugh which turned into a wince. Mac groans quietly but enough for Riley to hear it.

“Mac, are you sure you’re okay?” Riley asks with a worried voice.

“I’m fine, Riles, really.” Mac says calmly. _‘Riles?’_ Riley asks herself. No one has ever called her that, but she doesn’t complain. She kind of likes it, anyway.

“There is some ice back there. Maybe you should put some on those ribs.” Cynthia says while looking forward. She was no doctor, but everyone almost puts ice on every place where it hurts. _'_ _Right?’_ she asks herself.

“Thanks.” Mac says as he finds some ice and puts it on his ribs.

“Plans for tonight?” Jack asks.

“Well, I was hoping me and Riley could go out for dinner, but my ribs thought otherwise. Sorry, Riles.” Mac says.

“No worries, just for you to be okay. That’s all that matters to me.” Riley says. Mac grins when he heard her say that. He looks over to Jack who also had a grin while looking at him. Mac’s smile fell and he furrowed his eyebrows. The face Jack was giving him kind of creeps him out.

“Well, Leanna and I are free. Why don’t we come to your place and I can cook all of us some dinner.” Bozer says.

“I would love that.” Riley says.

“Same here.” Mac adds.

“Okay, Riley, your mom’s shift hasn’t ended yet. So go and tell her so she doesn’t make other plans.” Jack says. Its Diane’s first day at work at the Phoenix as well.

“On it.” Riley says and she is out of the war room. All of them stayed silent for a minute, until Mac heard an explosion. The helicopter felt fine, wasn’t losing control or anything. He exchanged a glance with Jack and then an alarm goes off. Jack’s eyes go wide cause he thinks he knows what this is.

“Is that what I think it is?” Jack asks.

“It depends. If you think it’s a surface-to-air missile, then yes.” Cynthia says. And that’s not what Jack wanted to hear. “Strap in.”

Mac and Jack put their seatbelts on, and Jack puts Victor’s seatbelt on as well.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Leanna asks.

“We have an incoming missile.” Mac says.

“What?!” Riley asks. Leanna and Bozer turn around to see Riley walking inside the war room.

Cynthia looks at the radar on her dash, and sees the red dot approaching the center of the radar, which was the chopper. “Hold on!” Cynthia shouts.

Cynthia does a sharp 180 degrees turn, and dodges the missile. The missile hits the ground as it couldn’t turn around to follow them. Mac was serious when he meant that Cynthia was the best pilot. There was some proof. The radar picks up another missile approaching them.

“Second missile incoming. I can’t get a visual. Can anybody see it?” Cynthia asks. Mac and Jack looks out the window.

“No. Nothing.” Mac shouts.

“Can’t see anything.” Jack adds. Then the beeping starts again. Cynthia looks at the radar to see two red dots approaching them.

“Third missile!” Cynthia shouts.

“I got eyes on number two!” Jack shouts. “Eight o’clock.”

“Okay, I’m gonna try something.” Cynthia says. _‘Come on, you can do this.’_ She says to herself. Cynthia lowers the chopper close to the ground, and then turns right and goes up, tricking the missile as it hits the ground and explodes.

“Detonation! Confirmed, detonation.” Mac shouts so Cynthia can hear him.

“Two down, one to go! Here she comes!” Jack says.

“Yeah, I got this. I got this.” Cynthia says it out loud. She turns left but the missile is right behind them. “She’s sticky. Changing vectors!” Cynthia shouts.

“It’s gaining!” Jack yells.

“I can’t break the lock!” Cynthia says. Mac looks at the bag between his feet and remembers that there is something that could help them now. He takes out the foil survival blanket.

“Hey, Mac, you know I trust you, but that’s gonna make a horrible parachute.” Jack says.

“Not using it as a parachute.” Mac says. He starts cutting it, making it like confetti. He opens the window and throws out the pieces of the foil.

“Oh, I get it. You’re making chaff. Confusing censors. Good idea.” Jack says.

“Glad you approve.” Mac says as Jack laughs a bit. They hear the explosion from behind them, but what they didn’t expect was the blowback explosion to cause problems.

“We’re caught in the blowback. Mayday! Mayday! We’re going down!” Cynthia says. Riley gasps when she heard that as Bozer puts his hands on his head, and Leanna puts her hands on her mouth.

“Mac!” Bozer shouts over the comms. But Mac had other things to worry about. He tries to find something to hold on, because the impact will not be pretty. As they approach the trees, the door on Mac’s side flies off and his seatbelt breaks. Which results in him flying off the chopper hitting the ground before everything goes black.

In the war room, they heard the impact and that’s when the comms went off. “What do we do now?!” Riley asks almost yelling. She can’t lose Mac and Jack. Those are the ones that are always there for her, bringing her up when she feels down. If she loses them both, she won’t be able to recover. Leanna approaches her and puts her hand on her shoulders.

“In these situations, being calm is the key. Remember what we studied?” Leanna asks. Riley exhales and nods, trying to stop the tears from falling. “Good. I need you to use a satellite so we can find the crash.” Riley quickly went to her laptop.

“Bozer, start making calls, now.” Leanna says. Looks like Leanna is their Matty right now.

“On it.” Bozer says as he takes out his phone and walks out of the war room.

Mac gains conscience and he slowly opens his eyes. The ringing in his head is making him want to die. He puts his hands on them as he hears screams and grunts from his right side. He turns and sees Jack, trying to lift something from the front seat.

Jack turns around and sees that Mac is moving. “Hey, Mac. Mac, come here, quick!” Jack says. Mac fully opens his eyes to see that Jack is trying to help Cynthia get out from the chopper. And he can see why Jack is trying his best. There is a fire next to Cynthia that is spreading inside the chopper. Mac’s eyes go wide as a picture of Jeffrey comes to his mind. _‘No, not now!’_ Mac says to himself as he shakes his head, gets up and runs to Jack.

“I can’t get her out!” Jack says. Mac looks to see what the problem is. The whole dash is crushing Cynthia’s legs.

“We’re gonna need some leverage.” Mac says as he looks around. He takes a piece from the chopper and puts it between the dash and her legs. “You push. I can’t with my ribs.” Jack nods and grabs the piece as Mac walks behind Cynthia and puts his hands under her pits.

“One…two…three.” Jack pushes and lifts the dash board, and Cynthia lets out a loud scream in pain as Mac gets her out. Five seconds too late, she would have been burned alive, cause the fire reached the seat where Cynthia was.

“Hey, whoever shot us down is gonna be coming back to confirm the kill.” Jack says as Mac puts Cynthia down on the ground. “This fire’s just drawing them a road map.”

“Can you put it out?” Mac asks. “I got her.”

“I’ll try.” Jack says. How is he gonna put out this fire though? He’s got an idea. Every Phoenix chopper has a fire extinguisher inside. The fire has still not reached the back seats and that’s where they keep the fire extinguisher. _‘Lucky._ ’ Jack finds it and starts putting out the fire.

“I’m fine. Where’s Victor?” Cynthia asks. Right now, Mac doesn’t give a damn where Victor is. He is just focused to help Cynthia. With his SAK, he cuts her pants at the lower end, to see her leg purple. He puts his hands on it, and Cynthia cries out in pain. Mac sighs.

“Your tibia’s fractured. I need to stabilize it…otherwise, the bone might cut your artery.” Mac says as he glances at her. He starts looking around to see if he can make something. “I’ll be right back.” Mac says as he stands up.

He walks over to the chopper. As Jack is trying to put out the fire, Mac takes the seatbelts from the back seats and the tarp that Victor left behind. _‘How are we gonna find him…’_ Mac asks himself. He takes a stick that’s on the ground and goes back to Cynthia.

He puts down the stuff and lifts her leg up and she screams. “Sorry, sorry.” Mac says. He puts the stick at the back of the leg, wraps the leg with the tarp and tightens it with the seatbelts.

“Thank you.” Cynthia says.

“You’re welcome.” Mac replies.

“Okay…” Cynthia was interrupted by Mac.

“I know, Victor.” He says as he puts his hand up to tell her to calm down.

“Fire’s out.” Jack says as he throws the extinguisher on the ground. “Anyone know where we are?” Jack asks.

“We’re about 50 clicks from Taraz, just north from the Kazakhstani border. That’s probably the closest sigh of civilization.” Cynthia says. Jack feels something going down his nose. He brushes it off, only to see that is blood. But it’s nothing serious so he leaves it.

“They’ll find us. Don’t worry.” Jack says.

“Look, we were flying way under radar altitude when we were diverted from our flight plan when those missiles started flying, and our transponder’s in there.” Cynthia says pointing to the wrecked dash that’s on the ground.

“Our trans…” Jack trails off.

“Done. It’s done.” Cynthia says.

“Our transponder’s in there.” Jack says. _‘Awesome…’_ “So…they have no way of knowing where we are?” Jack asks.

“No.” Cynthia replies.

“That’s….that’s fantastic.” Jack says sarcastically.

“Yeah, well, that’s not our only problem.” They hear Mac coming from behind. When they look at him, Mac lifts his hand showing a pair of handcuffs opened. _‘Victor’s gone.’_

Back in the war room, Riley is searching for the crash site while Bozer was pacing and Leanna staring at the screen.

“Okay, aircraft is in the area.”

“Mark it if you can see it.”

“Do a quick search.”

“I need you.”

They can hear the techs from the other room doing everything they can to spot the chopper. A bald guy in a suit and a woman behind him walk in the war room.

“Okay, we’re briefing the Pentagon in ten minutes. Have you been able to locate the site of the crash yet?” he asks.

“No, the chopper’s transponder isn’t pinging and we can’t spot any smoke or debris on the satellite imagery.” Leanna answers. “There is not sight of the crash site. Just endless wilderness.”

“Well, maybe they didn’t crash.” Bozer says.

“We heard the impact, Bozer.” Leanna says.

“It’s more likely the ground cover is hiding the debris. And they put out any fires to stop whoever shot them down from finding them.” The woman says.

“If they put out the fires, at least that means they’re alive.” Bozer says.

“The Tyan-Shan wilderness is hundreds of square miles of hostile territory.” The woman says.

“Even if we could mobilize a search team, finding them in those woods? Like a needle in a haystack.” The bald guy says.

“Then I guess they better start looking.” Leanna says. “Because as long as that needle’s still out there, I don’t care how long it takes to find it.” Bozer raises his eyebrows when he heard Leanna say that. _‘So hot’_ he says to himself. He turns around to see Riley still typing. She’s been typing for 10 minutes straight. He’s not going to stop her cause she might find something from the way she is searching.

Mac opens the bag that fell out of the chopper when they crashed, and finds a bottle. He shakes it and there is still water in it. It was half filled so it was enough. He took one sip, so did Jack, and the rest he gave to Cynthia.

“Biggest fear with a break like yours is fever and swelling. Best way to fight that is by staying hydrated.” Mac says as he gave Cynthia the bottle. “Drink.” He says with a smile. Jack comes back with the headphones Cynthia was using while flying.

“Well, the helicopter’s comms are burnt to a crisp, and whatever was in that survival kit’s now…scattered for miles.” Jack says as he throws the headphones on the ground. “And none of us are gonna even get one bar service on our cell phones out here. But good news is, no roaming charges.” Jack jokes trying to lighten up the mood. Doesn’t seem to work though.

“Oh, wait, I-I had a SAT phone in a…red backpack.” Cynthia says. Mac and Jack start searching. Mac goes behind the chopper and Jack goes by the river. And he picked the right spot because he sees the red backpack….in the water.

“You mean this one?” Jack asks as he lifts the backpack and shows it to Cynthia. Cynthia closes her eyes and sighs.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” She says as she takes a sip of her water. Jack opens the backpack and takes out the SAT phone. Water is dripping from it.

“Well, um…don’t suppose anyone got a bag of rice in hand?” Jack asks. Jack throws the SAT phone to Mac and he catches it. He looks at it, shakes it so some of the water comes out. They didn’t have a bag of rice but Mac had an idea.

“Well, there’s no groceries stores out here, but I think I can whip up something that uses the same principal.” Mac says. He walks over to the chopper and grabs a piece of wood from under it. “Dry rice is a desiccate.”

“Of course it is.” Jack says as he rolls his eyes. Mac takes the empty bottle from Cynthia and shakes it so all the drops come out. For this, the bottle needs to be dry.

“Meaning it soaks up moisture. Baked wood does the same thing.” Mac says as he puts the SAT phone and the baked wood in the bottle. “So, if I can put the phone in an airtight bottle, it might be able to soak up enough moisture so we can turn it back on again.” Mac says as he closes the bottle tightly.

“Okay, how long is that going to take?” Cynthia asks. Mac takes him a second to answer.

“Few hours.” Mac answers. Jack closes his eyes and sighs. “If we’re lucky.”

“It’s gonna be night when that thing starts working again.” Jack says.

“Got a better idea?” Mac asks. Jack groans and shakes his head. He puts his hands on his waists and realizes something. He starts searching the ground. Behind the helicopter, at the river, behind the trees…and nothing.

“You guys want some good news?” Jack asks. Mac and Cynthia glance at him. “I can’t find my gun.” He says.

“Well, where was it before the crash?” Mac asks.

“Well, I thought it was in my holster, I think.” Jack says.

“You think?” Mac asks sounding angry now. Jack searches the ground around them once more.

“Well, I…” he trails off as he glances at Mac who was furious. “Hey, come on, man. My life just flashed before my eyes, I’ve had like four concussions, I can’t even see straight.” Jack says with a raised voice. “My retention level is not….detail-oriented right now.” Jack says. _‘Oh my God…’_ Mac says to himself. Jack can’t even find the right words to use right now. _‘So, Victor might have the gun…’_

“Well, this certain detail is somewhat important because it’s the difference between your gun being somewhere out here or in the hands of someone who knows how to use it and kill people really well.” Mac says.

“Well, if you put it that way, it doesn’t sound real good.” Jack says. Mac leaves them and starts searching for a trail so they can find Victor.

“So, basically the war criminal we were bringing back to stand trial, that bombed the hospital, killing innocent people and children, is loose in the forest possibly armed?” Cynthia asks.

“That’d be my bet, yeah.” Jack says as he closes his eyes shut. Cynthia just nods. Then they hear Mac from the distance.

“Guys, blood trail. Over here. It’s fresh.” Mac says. “It leads this way. It’s gotta be him.” Mac finishes as he walks back to them.

“Okay, come on, we gotta go after him.” Cynthia says as she tries to get up, but with her leg shattered, she isn’t going anywhere.

“Uh, I…Look, I really…I appreciate your enthusiasm, Cynthia, but you’re in no shape for the hunt right now.” Jack says. Cynthia glances at Jack, and then at Mac who gives her a sad look.

“Jack’s right.” Mac says.

“I’ll be fine. Look, there’s no way we can call for help right now anyway. By, the time we catch him, hopefully our SAT phone will dry up and we can call in for some exfil.” Cynthia says.

“We both know, we can’t allow Victor to find his way out of here.” Jack says as he glances at Mac. “Plus, that SAT phone isn’t gonna dry up till night fall, so we need to find Victor before it gets dark.”

“Well, he is injured.” Mac says as he points to the blood on the ground. “Means we do have a chance of catching him before the sun goes down.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Jack says. Cynthia tries to stand up and in the process, she screams in pain.

“Hey, hey.” Mac says as he helps her get up. Cynthia gets up on her leg and tries to balance on a tree and on Mac. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine.” Cynthia says. But Mac knows that’s not true. If she wants to walk with them and hunt for Victor, she needs something to hold on since she can’t walk on her right leg. _‘A crutch.’_ Mac thinks. He looks around and sees some stuff that would be perfect to build a crutch. Or something similar.

“Wait right here.” Mac says as he takes out his SAK. He sees the helicopter’s landing gear on the ground, or skid and starts cutting it. He goes over and takes out the cushions from the seats.

“What’s he doing?” Cynthia asks as she glances at Mac.

“Being MacGyver.” Jack answers. With the rope that was on Victor, he ties the cushions on the skid and hands it to Cynthia, making a perfect crutch.

“You must’ve won every merit badge as a kid.” Cynthia says as she leans on the crutch.

“I was actually kicked out of the Scouts.” Mac says with a smile. Not a proud moment for him, and an embarrassing one.

“I don’t believe that.” Jack says as he hands Mac the bottle with the SAT phone in it.

“You know, for years, I’ve heard about your…unusual field skills. But I never thought that my entire life would depend on it.” Cynthia says with a grin.

“So no pressure.” Mac says.

“Let’s go.” Cynthia says and starts moving. Mac offers her help but she shakes her head. “I got it. It’s fine.” She assures him.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Bozer walks inside the war room with three cups of coffee. Riley is on her laptop, while Leanna is sitting on the sofa and looking at the big screen.

“Any news?” Bozer asks as he sets down the cups on the table. Leanna glances at him and stands up.

“Riley reassigned a KH-11 recon satellite.” She says as she walks to the screen. She puts up images from the satellite of the forest Mac and Jack are in. “These are images from after they went down.” Leanna puts up three more images. “These are from before they went down. If we could spot a difference, it could be the crash site.”

“Looking for a needle in a haystack by looking at the hay. Smart.” Bozer says as he crosses his arms in front of his chest. He glances at Riley and his face falls. She’s been at this for 1 hour nonstop. He exchanges a glance with Leanna, and she nods.

“Riley, you need to take a break.” Bozer says as he approaches her.

“No, no.” Riley says with a shaky voice. “They are out there, and we need to find them.” Bozer and Leanna can hear the fear in her voice, and that breaks their heart. Leanna kneels down in front of her. She grabs the laptop from her and tries to pull it away but Riley won’t let her. So she uses a bit more force and she succeeds. That’s when they notice how Riley was shaking and her eyes were watery.

“Hey, hey…” Leanna whispers. “They are alright. They put out the fire, which means they are alive. There is nothing to worry about.”

“Plus, Mac is probably building a new helicopter out of bamboo and pine sap so Jack can fly them home.” Bozer says with a laugh. That forces a smile on Riley’s lips. Leanna grabs her hand and squeezes.

“Trust me. We’re all freaking out. But that’s not gonna help them. But, when Mac finds some weird-ass way to send out an SOS, we’ll be right here waiting on the signal.” Leanna says. Riley glances at her and nods. “Now, come on, sis, grab the coffee and let’s go outside. I want to hear about the date Mac took you on last night.” They both stand up and take their coffee. Leanna nods at Bozer, telling him to keep watch and if there’s any news, to call them immediately.

Mac, Jack and Cynthia do make some progress. They have been following the blood trail for half an hour now. Jack was leading them, while Cynthia was in the middle with Mac behind her.

“You okay?” Mac asks Cynthia.

“Yeah. I’m not the biggest fan of humping it. Too used to being up there.” Cynthia says and Mac smiles. Then Cynthia stops in front of him. “Remind to do a better job at avoiding the missiles next time.” She says glancing at Mac. Mac and Jack let out a laugh cause Cynthia is being ridiculous.

“I’m fairly certain we’re only alive because of your fancy flying skills.” Mac says.

“Definitely. That was the best…” Jack trails off as he sees Cynthia getting tired. “Here.” Jack offers her to lean on him.

“Thanks.” Cynthia replies.

“That was the best crash landing I’ve ever been a part of.” Jack says.

“You’ve had more than one crash landing?” Mac asks.

“….no.” Jack says. “But, I did come close once. When I was in the CIA, we had this mission in Norway. Sons of bitches almost shot us out of the sky with RPGs. We avoided one rocket by an inch.”

“Jeez…” Mac says.

“Yeah, man, scary stuff. I’m not a fan of RPGs too.” Jack says.

“Just one second.” Cynthia says as she stops. Jack lets go of her and faces Mac.

“You know, you could’ve made a heavier crutch.” Jack says sarcastically.

“Shut up.” Mac mutters. Cynthia puts her hand on Jack’s shoulder and Jack kneels a bit so Cynthia can lean on him. They start walking again and Jack speaks.

“So, how was date night?” Jack asks.

“Seriously?” Mac asks sounding like he doesn’t want to talk about date night right now. And he doesn’t. Not in the middle of the woods while hunting a war criminal.

“Yeah, seriously.” Jack answers. Mac closes his eyes and sighs. He knows Jack won’t let this go so he tells him.

“It was great. We had dinner and went shopping a bit downtown.” Mac says. When Mac sees Jack opens his mouth he quickly says “End of story.”

“You were gonna go on a date tonight as well. Two nights in a row.” Jack says.

“And?” Mac asks. Jack remains quiet in his thoughts. He tells himself that he shouldn’t ask this many questions, should just leave them alone. He trusts Mac.

“Nevermind. So the plans we had for tonight are obviously dead, so how about tomorrow?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Mac asks.

“What plans?” Cynthia is curious.

“We are gonna have dinner at Mac’s place tomorrow night. You’re more than welcome to come.” Jack says with a smile. Cynthia chuckles.

“Thank you for the offer, but after this…I just want to go home and lay down for 2 months.” Cynthia says. They all let out a laugh.

“Are we gonna invite Matty the Hun too?” Jack asks. Cynthia stops and they both glance at Jack with furrowed eyebrows.

“Matty the who?” Mac asks. Jack rolls his eyes. He hasn’t told Mac that he used to call Matty, the Hun.

“Our boss lady.” Jack answers.

“Why are you calling her “the Hun”? Mac asks.

“Cause…we didn’t connect very well the first few weeks we worked in the CIA together. And I don’t want to talk about this right now.” Jack says.

“Well…you started it.” Cynthia says.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it out of you eventually.” Mac says and Jack chuckles. _‘Yeah, we’ll see about that.’_ Jack says to himself.

“Gotcha!” They hear Riley say.

“Is it Mac and Jack?” Bozer asks as he walks over to her.

“Next best thing. The crash site.” Riley says as two pictures on the big screen come up. One the left picture they see clear green trees, but on the right they see a burnt helicopter on the ground.

“Can you toggle to thermal and look for heat sources?” Leanna asks. Riley nods and gets to typing. She finishes, and no heat sources come up.

“It’s gonna be impossible to find heat sources in this forest.” Riley says. Bozer looks at the pictures and has an idea. Time to test Riley’s mind.

“Riley,” Bozer calls her and Riley glances at him, “lesson 3, paragraph 5.” Riley needs just a few seconds to think before she answers the conclusion of the paragraph.

“An agents just need a scrap of actionable intel.” Riley says. Bozer smiles and points to the picture. Riley smiles when she figures it out. “That’s our scrap.” Bozer nods.

“So, there is got to be something that we can do with it.” Bozer says.

“So…” Bozer looks at Leanna, “what are you waiting for? Start making some calls.” Leanna tells Bozer. Riley laughs when Bozer’s eyes go wide and grabs his phone quickly.

Mac, Jack and Cynthia are still following the blood trail. With Mac at the front, and Jack and Cynthia following, they’ve been walking for an hour now. Jack really needs a break right now, and it’s like Mac has read his mind because he stops in front of him. But then he starts looking around.

“What is it, Mac?” Jack asks.

“Blood trail ends here.” Mac replies. Jack lets go of Cynthia and starts looking around too. He sees to leafs covered in blood. Mac goes a bit further and sees something familiar. He leans down and picks up a bullet that’s opened. He shows it to Jack and Cynthia.

“Well, I guess, now we know for sure that Victor’s got my gun.” Jack says.

“Yeah, but why would he crack open a bullet and leave the slug and the shell behind?” Cynthia asks.

“Cause he used the gun powder to cauterize his wound, and those leaves to treat his burns.” Mac says.

“Awesome.” Jack says sarcastically. “Now he’s gonna be moving faster with my gun in his hand.” They hear something approaching, so they duck. Cynthia tries her hardest not to scream in pain as she lays down. Mac slowly looks up and see what he didn’t expect to see here. Jack looks at Mac’s shocked face and is wondering what he is seeing. So he looks up and…

“Is that a tank?” Jack asks with fear in his voice.

“Yeah…that’s a tank…” Mac says. _‘Oh…boy…_ ’ “They are looking for Victor…which means they are looking for us too.” Mac says shakily.

“Man, if we get spotted, we’re dead in an instant!” Jack says.

“Tank…how the hell do they have a tank?!” Cynthia asks sounding scared.

“I don’t know, but we need to find Victor before his friends do.” Jack says. Mac gulps. Almost on every mission he feels confident, that they are gonna get out alive. Well…this was not one of them.

“We need to be careful. Make sure we don’t get seen.” Mac says. They both nod and Cynthia glances at the bottle Mac is holding.

“What are the chances that my SAT phone’s dried up so we can call for help?” Cynthia asks. Mac opens the bottle and takes out the SAT phone. He opens the back and takes out the battery. He licks his finger and touches the battery that send a little electricity through him.

“Battery still works, but…” he sees some drops in there, “the circuitry’s a little wet so…no.” Mac says as he puts the SAT phone back in the bottle.

“Can you speed up the decimator?” Jack asks as he waves his fingers.

“It’s called a desiccator.” Mac says.

“Whatever.” Jack says as he shrugs.

“And yeah, I could swap some freshly baked wood in, but…if we start a fire, it could lead Victor’s friends right to us…who have a tank.” Mac says with a sigh.

“So, the answer’s no? Well, why didn’t you just say no?” Jack asks. “Every once in a while. Just…cut right to the chase, Mac.” Mac kneels down in front of Cynthia to see if the leg is doing okay.

“Good?” Cynthia asks.

“Looks like the splint is holding up, yeah.” Mac says as he stands up. He puts his back hand on Cynthia’s forehead to see if she has a temperature. “And you feel warm but…I think that’s more from exertion, not a fever, which is a good thing. How do you feel?” Mac asks.

“I’m good. Let’s just go get this bastard and get the hell out of here.” Cynthia says. Mac gives her a sad smile.

“I like it but…there’s no blood trail to follow anymore.” Mac says.

“Blood trail? We don’t need no stinkin’ blood trail.” Jack says. They both just stare at him. “Nobody? Really? Treasure of the Sierra Madre? Humphrey Bogart?” Jack asks. They both shake their heads slowly. “Okay, we got to fix this right now. Can you make a DVD player out of sticks, some rocks and twigs, or something?”

“Yeah. Get right on that.” Mac replies sarcastically.

“My point is…we don’t need a blood trail. I’ve takes AMOS.” Jack says.

“Advanced Mountain Operation School.” Mac and Jack say simultaneously.

“That’s right, I’m a good dog to hunt with. Victor might not be dripping blood, but he’s still dropping clues.” Jack says as he turns around. “Yeah, come on. I think he went this way.” Jack says as he starts walking and Mac and Cynthia follow him.

“Really?” Cynthia asks Mac.

“He might actually know what he is talking about.” Mac says as he helps Cynthia. He feels a couple of drops of rain fall on him. The sky turned all grey in that one hour. _‘Perfect, rain was the last thing we needed.’_

“Yeah, he’s unconsciously taking the path of least resistance, cause he’s tired, wounded, disoriented. His legs are pulling him downhill, not up.” Jack says as he watches his step and searches for clues. He glances forwards, “We must’ve dropped a hundred feet in elevation since the spot where he cauterized his wound. We’ll find him.” He looks forwards on the ground and sees something. “Look, over there. He’s sliding around all over the place. We can’t be more than 15 minutes behind him.”

“Nice.” Mac says.

“I impressed you guys, didn’t I?” Jack says with a grin.

“Kind of…” Cynthia says and laughs a bit.

Bozer walks in the war room while hanging up on the phone. “Alright, ladies, great news. The CIA is coordinating with the nearest US Army base. They’ve agreed to send a search chopper for Mac and Jack starting with the crash site we found.”

“Awesome, now we wait. See, Riley? Everything is going to be fine.” Leanna says as she glances at Riley, only to see her eyes wide looking at the screen. “Riley?” Riley raises her head and glances at the big screen.

“Why do you have that look on your face?” Bozer asks as he turns around to face the big screen. The weather radar was on.

“There’s a storm headed straight for them.” Riley says with fear in her voice. “By its color, that is a big storm.”

“That rescue team better move quick.” Leanna says.

The dark arrived. It gets a bit colder now, and the drops of rain falling isn’t any help. Jack leads them with his phone in his hand pointing it to the ground so with the help of the flashlight he can look for clues.

“Yeah, here we go.” Jack says as he sees a footprint on the ground. “The left print on this boot is getting deeper.”

“Think he was limping on his right?” Mac asks.

“Yeah, I think so. He’s exhausted. We’ll catch him soon but….now that its night it’ll be harder.” Jack says. Then they hear a helicopter approaching. They look around see a Black Hawk above them. It was hard to spot it, but they had some knowledge in choppers.

“It’s a search team. But…they’ll never see us through all this foliage.” Cynthia says.

“And if they mark off this area, they’re not gonna be coming back here, either.” Jack says. Mac sighs and takes out his phone. He gives the bottle that the SAT phone is in to Jack.

“Wait here.” Mac says.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Jack says. Mac knows this is a lame idea but he doesn’t have any other.

“I’m gonna try and turn on the flashlight on my phone, point it at the sky and hope they see it.” Mac says.

“What if they don’t? You don’t have a different idea?” Jack asks.

“If it was day and the sun was out, I could’ve reflected it of my knife, but…” Mac says. Jack just sighs and nods.

“Let’s hope it works.” Jack says.

Back in the war room, all three of them are just standing in front of the big screen that shows every single area Jack and Mac might be in.

“Phoenix, this is Alpha Bravo 17, coming into segment 14D of the search grid.” They hear the pilot say over the comms.

“Come on, Mac, make some noise! Show ‘em where you are.” Leanna says out loud.

Mac is running like his life depends on it…because it does. If they get left out here, with a war criminal on the loose and his friends who have a TANK searching for them, they will be dead. It was hard to run with the phone pointing forwards so that he can see where he is going. He was jumping trees, making sharp turns as he can see lights from the sky. The pain in his ribs was killing him, but he couldn’t worry about that now. It was hard seeing a black chopper at night. Mac arrives in an area where there are no trees. He stops and points the flashlight upwards. He thinks this won’t work, but it was all he had right now.

“Come on, come on…” he whispers. Then he hears sticks breaking behind him. While still pointing the flashlight up, he turns around and sees a light pointing towards him. _‘They landed?’_ Mac asks himself. His question though is answered when he hears a gunshot. He quickly runs and hides behind a tree. That wasn’t the rescue team. _‘Victor…’_ How did he miss him though? Victor’s aim is one of the best. Unless he shot at him with his none-dominant hand.

“14D clear. Moving on.” The pilot says. Riley looks down and starts pacing. This can’t be happening. _‘Please, God…’_ She can’t imagine her life without Mac and Jack in it. They are the two people that make her happy the most. She can’t lose them…

“Mac!” Mac jumps when he hears Jack’s voice. He turns around and sees him running towards him. “Hey, you got to…” Jack trails off trying to catch his breath as he points to the direction he came from.

“I just saw Victor. We can go get him.” Mac says.

“No, Victor…forget Victor. You got to come back right now. Cynthia’s not doing good. Come on!” Jack says. Mac quickly nods and starts following Jack. When they arrived, he sees Cynthia on the ground, shaking violently. Mac puts his back hand on her forehead, and she is burning up. She’s got a bad fever.

“Does she need a mouth to mouth or something?” Jack asks. He has no idea in these kinds of stuff.

“She’s not drowning, Jack. She’s feverish. She’s hypothermic.” Mac replies.

“Oh…”

“If I don’t build a fire right now to raise her body temperature, she’s going to die.” Mac says.

“Obviously, I don’t want her to die, okay? But if we go building a fire, it’s gonna tell all of Victor’s guys, ‘Hey, look, everybody, we’re over here, come blow us up with your tank.’” Jack says. He glances at Mac and can see that Mac is scared. Mac knows Jack is true but, they can’t do anything else.

“What other options do we have?” Mac asks quietly. The sadness and fear could be heard in his voice clearly. Jack stares at him for a moment, and with a sad look he nods. He goes over and starts picking up sticks, when Mac saw a blue flash in the clouds in the distance. That’s when they hear thunder. Mac can’t see how big and dark the clouds are, but from their luck today, he thinks that it’s a big storm.

“With the wind blowing in our faces, that storm is coming right to us.” Mac says. Mac glances at Jack who is now losing hope. It’s written all over his face. If that storm is bad, the choppers will back out and Cynthia will die. Mac lifts Cynthia and sets her against a tree. Jack makes sure the fire is under the tree so that the drops of rain don’t put it out. Mac takes sticks, grass, anything he can find to put around Cynthia.

“Tell-tell dad I can make it.” Cynthia says with a shaky voice. That sentence breaks Mac’s heart. Cynthia’s dad was the one who taught her how to fly. When she was a baby, her dad flew with her in his Cessna. She was so happy when she was in the air with him.

“Hey, easy. Just, take some time, okay?” Mac says. Jack is rubbing two sticks together to make a spark, but it isn’t working. Mac notices that, and he reaches for the bottle that has the SAT phone. He takes out the battery from the SAT phone and points the wire upwards.

“Jack, let me try.” Mac says.

“Is that working?” Jack asks as he points to the SAT phone.

“No, I just needed the battery. Since rubbing two sticks together isn’t working…” he takes out his SAK and takes some sap from the tree, “…I will use tree sap, cause tree sap is an accelerant.” Mac says as he puts the sap on the pile of sticks. He puts the wire of the battery on the sap, and it creates a spark, which results in smoke, which means fire. Mac puts rocks around the fire place so they don’t set the whole forest on fire.

“Feeling better?” Mac asks Cynthia and she nods. Her shaking slowed down and she constantly rubs her hands. Mac walks over to Jack who was scanning to see if anybody is coming.

“She okay?” Jack asks.

“The shaking slowed down but…it’s still there.” Mac replies.

“How much do we have to wait before we get moving? I don’t want to sit here and wait for the bad guys to spot our smoke signals.” Jack says. Mac sighs.

“She needs to stop shaking.” Mac answers. “But…if you hear anybody coming, get her out of here fast.” Mac says as he starts walking.

“Hey, no, no. Wait a second, now.” Jack says as he grabs Mac and pulls him back. “Where you going?”

“I’m going after Victor.” Mac replies.

“By yourself? I don’t think so.” Jack says. Mac sighs.

“Look, without Cynthia, I can move faster. I can catch up to him, I might be able to get in front of him and cut him off.” Mac says. Jack simply shakes his head.

“I might be able to get in front of him and cut him off…let me go!” Jack says.

“No. You need to stay here and protect her. If they spot the smoke and get here, she’s gonna need the best protection she can get. And that’s you, man!” Mac says with a raised voice at the end because Jack kept shaking his head while Mac was speaking.

“Dude, they have a freaking tank!” Jack whispers loudly. “What am I supposed to do against a tank?!” Mac didn’t know how to answer that question. “And are you forgetting what Victor did to us on that roof? He’s a big dude, man.”

“I remember very well. He hit me with his right hand.” Mac says. Jack gives him a questionable look.

“So?” Jack asks.

“Well, when I was in the clearing, he shot at me and missed. And he is one of the best in the aiming game. He couldn’t have missed me if he shot at me with his right hand.” Jack still doesn’t get it. “He shot at me with his left hand. No one uses their none-dominant hand when shooting, unless he had no choice. Plus, he was limping on his right leg. I think his right arm is broken.” Mac says.

“So, if I can find a way to take out his left, I stand a chance.” Mac says. Jack bites the inside of his cheeks, indicating that he isn’t a fan of this plan. But he knows he can’t talk Mac out of it. As Mac starts walking Jack says,

“Hey…don’t die.”

“That’s the plan.” Mac replies. As Mac storms off, Jack has a sad look on his face. The stakes are higher for them not to survive this, considering what’s searching for them from the ground, and what’s coming for them from the sky. Not to mention that Cynthia might die. Jack just hopes that the kid avoids the bullets Victor is gonna be shooting at him. _‘Is this the end? Are we gonna die?’_ That thought kept running around in Jack’s mind. And that thought kind of made his eyes watery.

The thought of never seeing his friends back at the Phoenix, the thought of never seeing Riley and Diane again. It hurts. But, if he dies, at least he will know that they are safe now. With Murdoc and the Collective gone, they are safe. But he wants to see them again. He wants to see them everyday, be with them. Play with Riley on the racing game she has at home, spend time with Diane watching a movie, cuddling and all that stuff.

“Jack?” The sound of Cynthia’s voice brings Jack back to reality. He doesn’t realize that a tear is sliding down his cheek when he feels a tickle there. He wipes it off and turns to Cynthia. “You okay?” Jack approaches her and gives her a fake smile.

“Yeah, I’m fine…”

Back in the war room, silence filled it. Nobody has said a word since section 14D was clear. And now, a couple of more have been cleared aswell. The search team are moving quicker since the storm is closing in, and they haven’t found Mac, Jack and Cynthia yet.

Riley was sitting on the armchair just staring at the screen. In her mind, all she could think about was the worst scenarios. Bozer notices that by the look on her face, so he sits on the opposite sofa and glances at her.

“One time, when we were kids, Mac’s grandfather took us camping. I got all excited.” Bozer says as smile grows on his face as the memory comes back to mind. “Went out and bought a latter, a water purifier, little stove. But when we got to the trailhead, Mac’s grandpa wouldn’t let me take any of it. Said, ‘All you need to survive is what’s up here,” Bozer says as he points to his head, “and what’s out there.'” He says as he points to the forest on the big screen.

“We spent three days with nothing. And on the third night, I stepped out into the woods to, uh…to relieve myself. And was suddenly face-to-face with a massive bear.” Riley’s eyes go wide. “I started moving back, but he started following me. I swear he was about to charge when Mac showed up out of nowhere, and told me to make myself as big and loud as possible. Because the bear was afraid of me.” Bozer says.

“So…I did what Mac said. And you know what? He was right. The second I growled back, the bear ran off. I mean…I had to throw my underwear and couldn’t sleep for three weeks afterwards, but…” Riley and Leanna let out a laugh, “it worked.” Bozer says. Riley glances back to the screen to see another area become red.

“Trust me. If there’s anyone who could survive this, it’s Mac.” Bozer says. Riley glances at both of them with watery tears, and nods with a grateful smile on her face.

“…nine…ten…eleven…” a thunder claps. “Two miles.” Jack says. “The storms a little over two miles east now.”

“So…it’s coming right for us?” Cynthia asks.

“Yeah…” Jack sighs.

“So, what’s our plan if MacGyver doesn’t come back?” Cynthia asks.

“He’ll come back.” Jack answers immediately.

“Right, I mean, I know he’s coming back, but….we should still have a plan….in case.” Cynthia says and she glances at Jack who is looking forward. _‘He has to come back…’_ Jack says to himself.

“He’ll come back.” Jack repeats. That’s when the wind started picking up. Mac is hiding behind a tree. After he set everything up, connecting ropes to some rocks, he switches off his flashlight and hides. The rain is getting heavier now, since the wind picked up and the storm is getting closer.

He hears sticks breaking and groans, so he takes a peek and sees Victor with the gun in his left hand with the flashlight turned on. While looking at Victor, Mac pushes the rope he is holding towards him, which drops a big rock behind Victor. Victor quickly turns towards the rock, and that’s when Mac uses the second rope, to drop a big stick. Victor glances in every direction and sees nothing. That’s when Mac uses the third rope to drop a stick from the trees. Victor turns to where the noise was made, and Mac made his move. He grabs a huge stick and hits Victor’s left arm and hits him in the back. The gun falls on the ground, and so does Victor. Mac picks up the gun and glances at the giant.

“Sup, Victor?”

Jack and Cynthia are hiding under the tree as its starts pouring down. Jack hears trees braking from his right side. He turns around quickly and hears a familiar voice.

“Jack, it’s me.” Mac says as he comes out from the bushes all wet with his phone in his hand for the flashlight. Jack releases a sigh of relief.

“Did you find Victor?” Jack asks. Mac pushes a rope he is holding towards him, and Victor comes out from the bushes. “Oh, my man!” Mac puts his phone in his pocket and gives Jack his gun back.

“You dropped this.” Mac says.

“Yeah, thanks.” Jack says as he takes his gun. Mac drags Victor to another tree in next to the one Cynthia is leaning on. “What are you doing back on that leash again for, Victor? You been a bad boy? You know what you need? A spanking.”

“Jack, he can’t talk back. He’s gagged.” Mac says as he sits Victor down against the tree, and ties him up with the rope.

“Yeah, well…that’s just the way I like it.” Jack says. “Hey, man, that SAT phone has to be dried up by now.” Jack says sounding annoyed. Mac opens the bottle and takes out the SAT phone.

“I think it’s dry.” Mac says with a smile. But that smile falls quickly. Jack never likes that look on Mac’s face, and is getting tired of it.

“What is it?” Jack asks.

“The battery shorted out when I used it to start the fire.” Mac says. Then they hear a familiar engine. Very familiar since Mac and Jack have been in the army. Ground’s starts shaking a bit…

“That’s Victor’s friends.” Cynthia says. Jack checks how much ammo he’s got…not that it’s gonna do any good for them.

“Two rounds?! Victor, what have you been shooting at?!” Jack asks with a high pitched voice. Cynthia sighs and stands up.

“Okay, what’s our plan?” Cynthia asks as a thunder claps. Jack glances at her and gives her a sad look. They can’t call for help and a tank is hunting them down. Jack's pistol isn’t going to do anything against a tank. Then he hears Mac speak.

“Wait…maybe we can call for help.” Jack glances at Mac who is glancing at the sky. _‘Oh no…’_

“I’m getting a bad feeling that you know a way how to get us out of here that involves chaos and danger.” Jack says.

“Uh-huh, the best part is…we won’t have to worry about Victor’s friends if it doesn’t work, cause it’ll kill us instantly.” Mac says. And that’s what Jack was afraid of. _‘Great…’_

Mac takes out his SAK, and starts cutting something on Cynthia’s crutch. Jack looks at him as Mac takes out a spike of metal. “I’m gonna use this to recharge the battery.” Mac says as he starts searching for the things he needs. Cynthia glances at Jack.

“How?” she asks.

“I learned not to ask.” Jack says with a wince. Mac comes back with two big rocks in his hands.

“In 1752, Benjamin Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment.” Mac says as he kneels down and puts the rocks on the ground.

“Okay, yeah. B. Frank. Lightning boy, got it.” Jack says. Mac stands up and points towards him.

“Exactly.” Mac says. He picks up the bottle and searches for the nearest stream. When he finds it, he fills the bottle half. “But, there’s two things most people don’t know. One is there was a string from the kite going down to something called a Leyden jar.” Cynthia glances at Jack and he just shakes his head.

“Which was the first device capable of storing electric charge. And that’s what I’m making.” Mac says as he closes the bottle and walks back to them. He sees some roots on the ground and picks them up. “Now, a Leyden jar is basically a container, made of an insulating material, such as Cynthia’s bottle…” Mac trails off as he starts crushing the roots between the rocks. When he’s done, he puts the crushed roots in the water in the bottle. “…filled with salt water from the ground up roots.” Mac picks up the metal handcuffs they’ve been carrying since the crash. They are lucky they did. “Then, I wrap metal around the container.” he wraps the handcuffs around the bottle. “Then spike this down the center.” Mac says as he stabs the skip through the lid in the center. “This spike creates ambient electricity and stores it.”

“‘Ambient’ meaning air from the lightning storm. You’re gonna take your magic bar into Zeus’s party over there, all lightning rod style?” Jack asks. Mac gives him a sad smile.

“I got no choice. I need a charge to power the phone, and the only way to get that charge is by going into that static electricity in that storm.” Mac says. The storm hasn’t reached them yet, but by the way the rain is coming down, it isn’t that far. Mac looks over to where he can see lightning strikes hitting the ground. Then he hears Jack.

“What’s the second thing?”

“The what?” Mac asks as he glances at Jack.

“Benny Frank’s little kite experiment. You said there were two things a lot of people don’t know. What’s the second thing?” Jack asks.

“It never happened. It’s a myth. If it did go down the way the history books say, then he would’ve been killed instantly.” Mac says.

“Okay, well, thanks for the pep talk.” Jack says as he puts the big stick down.

“What are you doing?” Mac asks.

“I’m coming with you.” Jack answers.

“No you’re not.” Jack glances at Mac with raised eyebrows.

“Excuse me?” Jack asks.

“This could go wrong in an instant. We could die.” Mac answers.

“I’m not letting you go out there alone. You go kaboom, I go kaboom.” Jack says. He doesn’t wait for Mac to speak and gives the gun to Cynthia. “Keep an eye on Victor. If he gets squirrely, blast two rounds in him, alright?”

“My pleasure.” Cynthia replies as she takes the gun. Mac and Jack notice that she is starting to shake again, so they better move quickly.

Mac and Jack arrive at an opening where there are no trees. The sky flashes and Jack starts counting.

“One…two…” Thunder claps loudly which makes them jump. “Storm is above us.” Jack says. They are soaking wet from all the rain. They can still hear a helicopter in the sky, but from how the rain is coming down, the search team will back off. So this is their only chance. They walk a bit further in the opening and their ears start ringing.

“Ah…what’s that?! What’s happening?!” Jack says as he covers his ears.

“Uh, it’s called the corona effect! The moisture in the air becomes ionized!” Mac shouts so Jack can hear him. “Any last words?!” Mac asks before he puts the bottle on the ground.

“I wish this works, so we can go back home. See Diane, Riley and the guys. Have that dinner together!” Jack shouts. Mac stares at him and gives him a small smile.

“Me too.” He replies.

“Drop it!” Jack shouts. Mac puts the bottle on the ground.

“Run!!” Mac yells. He starts running and Jack slips a bit, falling back behind Mac. Mac jumps as he hears thunder hitting the ground behind him. Mac opens his eyes as his ears start ringing even louder. He groans and he can’t hear it. But he knows the effect will pass. He looks next to him but Jack isn’t there. He looks behind him and Jack is on the ground too.

Mac crawls to him and shakes him. “Jack?!” Mac shouts. Jack doesn’t move though. Mac shakes him even more and shouts his name a couple of times but nothing. He turns him around and Jack’s eyes are closed. Mac’s eyes go wide. _‘Was he far enough?!’_ he asks himself. He puts his fingers beneath his chin to check for pulse. Nothing. _‘No, no, no!!! Please tell me he was far enough, please, please God…’_

He puts his hands on his chest and starts CPR procedure. “Come on, Jack. You can’t leave us, brother, come on!” He still isn’t waking up. It’s been 30 seconds. “Come on, Jack!! Wake up!!” Mac yells. After a couple of more seconds, he hears Jack gasp for air and screams in pain.

“Holy shit!!” Jack yells as his back arches up. “I feel like I was hit by lightning!” Mac lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. _‘Thank God.’_ Jack looks around and now he remembers. “Do you think it worked?!” Jack asks loudly.

“Only one way to find out!” Mac replies. He gets up and goes to the bottle. He takes it and runs back to Cynthia. Jack slowly tries to get up, which he does, but everything hurts. When they arrive, Cynthia’s shaking even more now, and Victor is just looking at her with an ugly smile. Jack goes over and gives him a hard punch.

“Smile again and I’m pulling all of your teeth out.” Jack growls.

“Okay.” Mac says as he puts the bottle on the ground. “I need to borrow a zipper from your flight suit.” Mac tells Cynthia. Cynthia nods and Mac gets to it, while Jack puts some grass and sticks around her to keep her worm. The rain has reached the fire and putted it out. Mac cuts the zipper, opens it and puts it on the top of the bottle.

“We should be able to use these as wires to connect the positive and negative terminals of the jar to the SAT phone. And if it works, I can use it to transmit out GPS coordinates.” Mac says. While Mac is doing his thing, Victor starts screaming. And there’s that familiar engine and the shaky ground.

“Mac, you might need to hurry up cause Victor’s friends are closing in.” Jack says.

“Okay, moment of truth.” Mac says as he holds the power button of the SAT phone. After a few seconds the screen turns on. “We got power!” Mac says and starts laughing. Cynthia gives him a smile. Mac starts typing away and hits send.

“Did it work? Did it send?” Cynthia asks.

“It doesn’t say. I sure as hell hope so.” Mac says.

“Um…guys…” Jack calls them. They can hear the fear in his voice, and they find out why. The massive tank comes out from the bushes from the other side of the forest. The lights they had on the tank were bright, so they knew. “If they got the message, shouldn’t a chopper be passing by now?”

“Not if they backed out.” Mac sighs. The tank stops. And just sits there. The engine is rumbling as Mac and Jack exchange confused looks. They look back at the tank, and that’s when the canon starts turning towards them. _‘They saw us…’_ Now the canon was pointed directly towards them, and they couldn’t do anything about it. _‘I guess this is it…’_ Mac says to himself.

That’s when they hear a rocket come down from the sky and hits the tank. The front end of the tank goes up in the air, as its canon shoots. Let’s hope that doesn’t kill anybody where it’ll land. As the tank lands back on the ground, another rocket hits it from the side, which resulted in the tank flipping over. Mac, Jack and Cynthia hear a couple of choppers passing by them. Jack starts laughing and jumping from happiness. They were tired, they were soaked and they just want some sleep.

Mac and Jack fist bump and they both hug Cynthia. When the choppers land, soldiers run to them and help them get on the chopper.

“Hey, glad to see you alive. We’ll take you to the nearest US Army base to get you checked out, and then we’ll fly you home.” The pilot says.

“Copy that. Thank you.” Mac replies.

_LOS ANGELES, CITY OF ANGELS_

Riley, Bozer and Leanna are waiting for Mac and Jack to come back from the hospital. Cynthia was already at the Phoenix have a debriefing in the war room. The three of them were pacing outside the war room as Jack comes out of the corner. As soon as Riley sees him, she is running towards him. Jack gets pushed back a little by the force of Riley’s hug. He laughs as he hugs her back tightly.

“You did good, Ri. I’m so proud of you.” Jack says as he kisses her forehead. Jack also hugs Bozer and Leanna as Riley is curious to where Mac is.

“Where’s Mac?” Riley asks.

“He forgot something in the car. He went back.” Jack says. And after the moment he says that, Mac comes out from the corner. Mac sees Riley running towards him with smile, ready to jump him.

“Careful! Careful!” Mac says quickly. Riley slows down and stops in front of him with a confused look. “Ribs.” is the only thing Mac says. Riley smiles and carefully hugs him. They stay like that for a minute before they break the hug, only for Riley to her hands on his cheeks and kiss him on the lips.

Jack, Leanna and Bozer turn around so the two lovebirds can have some privacy. That’s when Cynthia walks out of the war room with two crutches.

“Wow. You guys take debrief serious.” Cynthia says as a male and a female walk past them. “Their heads almost exploded when I told them about your little lightning trick.” Cynthia says as Mac and Riley join them.

“Maybe leave that part out next time.” Mac says with a smile.

“What lightning trick?” Bozer asks. Mac’s smile falls. He wants to tell them about his idea, but…he almost lost Jack. So first, he will speak with Jack and if he approves telling them what happened, he will tell them. But now, he remains quiet. “Oh, oh I get it. You three spent some time in the woods together, now you have this bond.”

“It was not fun.” Mac says.

“Cynthia, this is Riley, Bozer and Leanna. Guys, this is Cynthia, the most badass helicopter pilot I’ve ever seen.” Jack says. Cynthia hides her sheepish smile.

“You Boy Scouts saved my life. Thank you…for everything.” Cynthia says.

“You’re welcome.” Mac replies with a smile.

“Cynthia!” they hear a male voice from behind.

“Scott.” Cynthia says. The person…Scott, comes over and hugs her tightly and kisses her. From that, they realized that Scott is Cynthia’s husband.

_BOZER’S APARTMENT_

Bozer and Leanna enter Bozer’s apartment. They throw their bags on the ground and Leanna just collapses on the couch. Bozer laughs as he goes to the kitchen.

“Hungry?” Bozer asks. As he opens the fridge to see what he can cook.

“Starving.” Leanna mumbles with her face in the pillow. “But first, I’m gonna take a shower.” She says as she stands up.

“Hey.” Bozer calls after her. She stops and sees him approaching her. He puts his arms on her waist and kisses her. “I’m proud of you.” He says quietly. “I mean, the way you were giving orders to the CIA, the way you acted like Matty today, it was soooo hot!” Bozer says and Leanna laughs. “You turned me on, girl.” Leanna runs her pointer finger down his cheek, to his lips.

“Well, why don’t you join me in the shower so I can cool you off?” Leanna says quietly. She turns around and takes off her shirt to reveal her bare back. Bozer’s jaw drops to the floor as he sees her taking of her pants before entering the bathroom.

“Yes, ma’am.” Bozer says as he takes off his shirt and follows her in the bathroom.

_MAC’S APARTMENT_

Mac and Riley are cuddled on Mac’s couch in front of the TV watching a movie. They had lunch, and now they are resting before the others come by for dinner.

“Mac?”

“Mm?”

“I was really scared while you were out there. Not knowing if you’re okay or not.” Riley says. Mac turns to face her and removes a hair from her face.

“I know.” Mac replies.

“What if I’m not good for this job? I can’t be shaking and crying every mission.” Riley says.

“For a first mission, Riles, this is normal.” Mac says but Riley shakes her head slightly. “You are too concerned with what was and what will be.” Mac says and that makes Riley glance at him, look him in the eyes. “There’s a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” Riley smiles and kisses him on the lips. After a few seconds Mac deepens the kiss and Riley climbs on to his lap. Mac breaks the kiss and says,

“I want to go slow, but we need to be quick cause we have guests coming over.” Mac says against her lips with their foreheads touching.

“Yeah.” Riley sighs. Mac kisses her and smiles against her lips. He picks her up and carries her into his bedroom.

After what Mac has been through yesterday, being hunted by a tank, carrying a person with a broken leg who might have died, rain pouring over them, and of course nearly getting struck by lightning, this is what Mac needed right now. Just him and Riley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 12 coming soon.


	12. Fish Scaler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. New chapter. Sorry for not explaining the Mac hacks very well. English is not my first language. If you like it, leave a kudos and a comment :)

Jack and Diane haven’t gone on a road trip for a very long time. They went on a couple, but that was before Jack worked for the Phoenix. With the missions now, he barely had time to spend some good time with Diane. So he had a thought. Since Matty told them the day before that today they won’t have a mission, he told Diane to take a day off, which she did, and Jack is now taking her to one of his favorite places. Las Vegas.

Jack loved Las Vegas for many reasons. A couple of them are the nights. Nights in Las Vegas are amazing. Parties everywhere, every building lightened up in beautiful colors. Then, there was the country music. Jack, as someone from Texas, loved country music. And, he’s been to some concerts in Las Vegas. As a huge Metallica fan, he attended like 4 of their concerts that were held in Las Vegas. And there were the classic muscle cars. His GTO under the city lights in Las Vegas, he couldn’t ask for anything else. And now, going there with Diane, best day of his life.

Jack had a rule. Everytime he goes to Las Vegas, he always wears a tux. Always. If he doesn’t have a tux, he’ll just stop by the shopping mall, buy one, and go to the WC to change. Yep, Jack never breaks this rule. And he told Diane to have a dress on. She obviously asked why, and Jack told her. She found that as a ridiculous rule, but she went with it anyway. Now, she was next to Jack, in a nice red dress that goes down to her knees.

“This rule is dumb.” Diane says with a smile.

“Thank you for telling me for the 15th time since we left LA.” Jack says.

“We don’t have to follow the rules you know.” Diane says.

“Rules are meant to be followed. Especially mine.” Jack says as he glances at her with a grin. “We don’t have to follow the traffic rules though.” Jack says as he floors the throttle. The GTO picks up speed so fast, that it smacked Diane in the seat. She keeps telling him to slow down, and he eventually does and starts laughing. Diane hits his shoulder and chuckles.

They arrived in Las Vegas at night time. It was the first time Diane has been to Las Vegas. And now, she is amazed at what she has been missing. Sports cars passing by, couples holding hands, huge parties, and a lot of gamblers. Las Vegas was famous for its casinos. Probably the most famous for its casinos in the US. She sees a fountain in front of a big hotel, the water dancing. She feels Jack taking her hand in his, while he was driving with the other. She lifted his hand and kisses it. Then they see an officer telling them to make a right turn. Jack can see why. There is a burnt car that’s upside down, and a whole CSI team around it.

“So where are we going?” Diane asks and Jack grins.

“To my favorite place in Las Vegas.” Jack says as he nods towards him. Diane glances that way and sees Jack’s favorite place. ‘Oh no.”

_LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY_

“WOOHOOO!!!” Jack screams as 42 NASCAR vehicles pass by going about 190 MPH. Jack sits down and glances at Diane, who was watching the cars, but doesn’t seem very interested. “Isn’t this amazing??” Jack asks.

“Mhm…” Diane humms. Jack can see that Diane is bored. He didn’t tell her that he was taking her to a NASCAR race first before his real plans start cause he thought she might like it. But it looks like she doesn’t. Jack loves NASCAR, but he doesn’t love anything else more than Diane. So he puts his hand on her back, which makes her glance at him.

“Let’s go.” Jack says with a smile. Diane furrows her eyebrows.

“Seriously?” Diane asks.

“I love NASCAR, but I hate seeing you not having fun, which is exactly why I brought you here.” Jack says. Diane wants to leave. The crowd is too loud, the cars are making her ears bleed, and not to mention she was in a dress and Jack in a tux. But, Diane knows Jack loves this stuff. And she wants him happy. So she shakes her head.

“No. We’ll stay here till the end.” Diane says. And to keep her entertained a bit, why not learn something about this sport. So she starts asking Jack questions about NASCAR. And it makes her so happy to see Jack answering the questions with so much joy. He’s like a little kid.

“And if you see there, number 19…” Jack says as he points to the cars on the track. Diane nods and Jack continues, “…he is the best driver, I’m telling you. He is gonna be a champion this season. And he might even win this….EEEEEEYYYYY!!” Jack screams and stands up quickly as he sees a couple of cars spinning out on the back straight. Diane sees everyone in the crowd stand up, so she stands up aswell.

“Is everyone okay?” Diane asks. After the smoke clears, Jack sees that nobody has crashed hard. It was just spins.

“Yeah, looks like it.” Jack answers. As they sit down, Jack takes Diane’s hand and squeezes. Diane looks at him to see a big smile on his face. “Thank you for wanting to stay.” Jack says. Diane doesn’t reply, she just leans in and kisses him on the lips.

_LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA_

Riley just wants to lay down. Just lay down and not get up for days. Well, first she needs to shower cause she was sweating everywhere. Training is hard, and Riley not doing this at all before she worked at the Phoenix, the first few weeks she got tired pretty quick. Now, she is fighting against Leanna in the gym. Well, not fighting, but practicing, Leanna teaching her some moves. Leanna caught her distracted and use the opportunity to trip Riley. Riley breathing heavily and laying on the floor, she says,

“I need a break.”

“One more round.” Leanna says as she starts pacing. Riley groans as she tries to get up.

“Right now, I need an ice cold bath. That’s all I want.” Riley says.

“Is that what you are gonna tell your enemy when you are fighting him?” Leanna asks as she gets ready for another round.

“Depends. How bad’s his funk?” Riley says with a smile.

“Nice.” Leanna says with a grin. They are like sisters, really. Leanna had the same attitude when she was training.

 _‘Come on, Riley. You can do this.’_ Riley says to herself. She puts her hands in front of her face and gives Leanna a nod so she can make the move. Leanna attacks with a couple of swings which Riley avoids or blocks. Leanna lifts her leg trying to hit Riley, but Riley grabs it. She looks Leanna in the eyes and smiles. With her right leg, Riley hits Leanna’s leg that’s on the ground, and as Leanna is in the air, Riley pushes and smacks her on the ground. Leanna firstly coughs but then she starts laughing.

“Girl, you’re getting better and better everyday.” Leanna says with a smile. Riley helps her get up and smiles.

“Thanks. Sorry, I didn’t mean to smack you that hard…” Riley says.

“Don’t ever apologize.” Leanna replies. That’s when Leanna phone beeps from the table, and a second later Riley’s does aswell. They go over to check, and it’s a message from Matty. “Get your asses to the war room.” Leanna reads the message.

“So much for a shower. How are we gonna go like this? I’m sticky everywhere.” Riley complains.

When they arrive in the war room, Mac, Jack, Bozer and Matty are there waiting for them. “Man, Leanna drained you down there, didn’t she?” Mac says with a laugh.

“Yeah, something like that.” Riley replies. “I would hug you and kiss you right now, but I’m sticky as hell.” Riley says. Mac approaches her and gives her a long kiss on the lips. Riley smiles against them.

“I don’t care.” Mac says with a smile when he breaks off the kiss. When he glances at Matty, she is giving him her _‘we have a job to do’_ look. Mac clears his throat and backs away from Riley. “Sorry, Matty.” Jack laughs. He loves hearing Mac apologizing.

“Alright,” Matty faces Leanna and Riley, “can you two tell us about a program that you coded called “FR-1507”?” Matty asks Leanna and Riley.

“Sure. It’s a new facial-recognition program we are working on. It’s still in beta testing right now.” Riley says.

“We’re comparing random faces on YouTube videos right now to the FBI’s Most Wanted list to train it to eliminate false positives.” Leanna finishes and Riley nods.

“Well, you may have been looking for false positives, but you found a real criminal.” Matty says as she walks to the big screen. Riley and Leanna share a confused glance. “Take a look at what just came in.” A video comes up and Matty plays it.

“Oh, snap!” Bozer says getting excited. “I have seen this video.” He says. The video shows a store with costumers searching stuff to buy. They don’t know why Bozer is so excited. “Watch right here when the bottle breaks over the dude’s head.” Mac glances at the video and they are all waiting for that moment. A lady comes into view, taking a plastic bottle and a glass bottle. She throws the plastic bottle at a man that has his cap on dressed in a black jacket. From the way he is dressed, Mac thinks he is a robber. The lady gets in front of the man.

“And…bam!” Bozer says as the woman breaks the glass bottle over the man’s head. Only Jack and Bozer start laughing, the rest of them are just confused at how this could be funny.

“Wait, this ding dong stealing Ding Dong’s on the FBI’s Most Wanted list?” Jack asks. Mac wasn’t the only one who thought the guy is a robber.

“Not him.” Matty says as she zooms in the background of the video. “Him.” The video shows a man who is watching the lady standing on top of the man. “This guy is a 17 point match to for a fugitive named Douglas Bishop, number six on FBI’s Most Wanted. Bishop was a top lieutenant in the Philly mob until special agent Eva Santos was tasked with busting him.” Matty says as a picture of Eva Santos comes up on the screen with a text saying how she died.

“According to this, Bishop gunned her down and escaped before he could stand trial.” Mac says.

“Yeah, the FBI’s gonna want this collar. He killed one of their own. Shouldn’t we be sharing this intel with them?” Jack asks.

“I’d love to if we could trust them.” Matty replies.

“We can’t trust the feds?” Leanna asks.

“Not on when it comes to Bishop.” Matty answers. “He’s been on their radar for years, targeted in multiple investigations, and then somehow has slipped through the cracks, every single time.”

“You think he’s got an agent in his pocket, helping him escape?” Mac asks.

“I think that there’s reason to suspect it, and until we know the truth, we can’t trust anyone at the FBI.” Matty replies. “We want Bishop to answer for killing a federal agent, we’re just gonna have to catch him ourselves. Mac, Jack, you’ll find Bishop. Riley, you’ll run surveillance from Phoenix, and Leanna will be here if you need any help. But first, go take a shower, the both of you.” Matty says to Leanna and Riley. “And Bozer…go get us some lunch.”

“Gladly. I’m freaking starving.” Bozer replies.

_PHOENIX JET_

Mac is in the bathroom, washing his hands after he did…the business. While he is washing his hands, he reminds himself to ask Jack how was it in Vegas. Mac has never been to Vegas before. Never had a mission where he would have to go to Vegas. But he heard that it’s a beautiful place. Maybe he should take Riley there. Or maybe he should take her somewhere else. A road trip with the woman he loves sounds amazing. He knows a couple of places that Riley loves, but he doesn’t know if Vegas is one of them.

When he gets out of the bedroom, he passes Jack who is looking at the photos he took in Vegas with Diane. Mac smiles when he sees Jack’s grin while looking at the photos.

“So, how was Vegas?” Mac asks as he sits opposite to Jack. Jack puts his phone in his pocket and drinks some of his martini.

“Man, it was amazing!” Jack says. “Vegas is probably one of my favorite places in the US. And the NASCAR race was…holy shit.” Jack says with a laugh. Mac laughs and takes a sip of his martini. “And going with Diane was the best thing ever. She didn’t like the NASCAR race so much, but everything else, she loved it. I would take that woman everywhere she wants to go.” Mac smiles at Jack’s words.

“Well, I’m planning to take Riley on a road trip in the future.” Mac says.

“It sounds like a great idea. She hasn’t been on a road trip for a very long time. I think you taking her would make her really happy.” Jack says with a smile. But that smile kind of falls, and turns into a small smile. “But…don’t wait too long. With this job, we don’t know what could happen. That road trip with Diane to Vegas, maybe…that was my last road trip with her. I really hope not but…”

“I know. And you’re right. With this job, anything could happen to us. Like on this mission…we don’t know what’s gonna happen. It sounds simple. Catch the bad guy and mission accomplished. But…we both know it’s not gonna be simple.” Mac says and Jack slowly nods.

“But, with you right by my side, I feel safer than ever.” Jack says with a smile.

“So do I with you by my side.” Mac replies and returns a smile.

_ATLANTA, GEORGIA_

After a long flight, they arrived in Atlanta and rented a beautiful Dodge. They used Google Maps to find the location of the store, and now here they are. In front of _“Tanner’s Corner Grocery”._ They get out of the car and walk inside the store. Mac goes first and Jack follows. The store is empty. There’s only one customer there, but she is paying. Mac looks around and spots the woman they are looking for. The woman from the video. She is placing bottles on the same spot she got the bottle in the video from.

“Ilene Preskin?” Mac asks. They looked her up on FR-1507 too. Ilene glances at Mac and Jack, and then sighs while she rolls her eyes.

“Alright, look, I’ll tell you guys what I told the other guys. I am not looking for representation. I do not want to do any TV appearances and I’m not looking to sell my life rights.” Ilene says. Jack smiles and looks at Mac.

“Ma’am, who is it you think we are?” Mac asks with a smile.

“Come on, you Hollywood types been coming here, bugging me ever since my nephew posted that damn video.” Ilene replies. Mac starts laughing a little.

“You think we’re…”

“We are Hollywood types. She got us pegged.” Jack interrupts Mac. “You got a great eye. Especially this guy.” Jack says as he points to Mac. Mac doesn’t know what Jack is doing here, but for no further confusion, he goes with it.

“Totally.” Mac says. “We are from Hollywood, and we’re here about your video, but we’re actually looking for this man.” Mac says as he takes out his phone and shows Ilene a picture of Bishop. Mac sees a flirty smile come on her face when she sees Bishop. “We think he has that certain…. ‘it factor’ that we need for our next project. Do you know him?” Mac asks as he puts his phone away.

“Charlie? Yeah, I know him. He comes in here all the time.” Ilene replies. Mac isn’t surprised that Bishop is lying about his name. He’s on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, what do you expect?

“And does Charlie have a last name? A stage name, perhaps?” Jack asks with raised eyebrows.

“Well, I don’t know, I never asked, but it’s not like you need an ID to buy Gooey-Pies.” Mac turns around and sees boxes of Gooey-Pies. He spotted them when he entered the store. “He comes in here once a day. He gets a box of them Gooey-Pies and we just…chat.” Ilene replies. Mac feels weird. By the sound of Ilene’s voice, she really enjoys talking about Bishop, and she might be turned on a bit too. So…Mac wants to get out of here quick.

“Do you know where he lives?” Mac asks.

“No…but I should for as long as he’s been flirting with me.” Ilene replies and Jack tries his best not to smile. “I mean, he’s never asked me out, but, you don’t not like a girl if you’ve made that many sketches for her.” Ilene says as she points to wall. Mac turns around and sees some pictures apparently that Bishop drew.

“Oh. May I?” Mac asks as he points his camera towards the pictures.

“Knock yourself out…” Mac takes a few pictures, but, I’ll tell you what, you use Charlie’s name, and I will sue you.” Ilene says. Mac spots maps of Atlanta, so he takes one cause he has an idea and goes to the cashier.

“Well, thank you, Ilene, you’ve been extremely helpful.” Mac says.

“She has?” Jack asks as he glances at Mac. Mac smiles and nods. Jack then can see that Mac has a plan. He knows the kid too well. He turns back to Ilene and smiles. “You have. I think I’m gonna have my people call your people. Do lunch. Ciao, mama.” Jack says as he makes his way towards the exit.

“And tell Charlie to invite me at his place sometime.” Ilene says before Mac and Jack can exit the store. “I want to get to do the freaky stuff…”

“Ooookay, bye-bye.” Jack says as they sprint out of the store. “Don’t tell me you just turned a photo of a sketch of a bird into a fugitive finder.” Jack says as they approach the car.

“Okay, I won’t tell you, then.” Mac says as he opens the map and puts it on the hood of the car. Jack chuckles.

“Okay, smarty-pants. Now you have to tell me, I insist.” Jack says. Mac opens his phone and opens a photo of a sketch that was in the store.

“See this sketch?” Mac asks as he shows the sketch to Jack.

“Yeah.” Jack replies.

“Well, it’s a view out of a window, and I’m thinking it’s Bishop’s window.” Mac says. “Since we can identify two large buildings, we’re just a little trigonometry away from finding out exactly where he lives.” Mac adds.

“Yeah, that’s a little far-fetched.” Jack says as he looks around them. He then glances at Mac who was doing trigonometry and asks,

“Hey, I don’t look like a Hollywood type to you, do I?” Mac glances at him from top to bottom.

“Just from the eyes up, really.” Mac replies as he gets in the car. Jack scoffs and puts on his glasses.

“Look at you.” Jack says as he gets in the driver’s seat.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

Bozer is in the lab, adding paint to some masks he needs to finish for other agents that have missions. He is carefully painting the nose while listening to 24K Magic from Bruno Mars on his headphones. What he is most looking forward to, is surprising Leanna with two tickets to a Rihanna concert. Leanna loves Rihanna. Everytime they are in the car going to work, she blasts her favorite Rihanna songs. Bozer likes Rihanna too, so why not take the girl she loves to her favorite artist’s concert.

When the song he is listening to finishes, he feels hands on his shoulders. He turns around and sees Leanna smiling at him. He grabs her by the waist, sits her in his lap and kisses her. Leanna smiles against his lips as she brings a hand to cup his cheek.

“Bored?” Bozer asks and Leanna nods.

“Mac and Jack are going to Bishop’s house right now, so I thought I check on you.” Leanna says. Bozer hugs her tightly and says,

“I love you.”

“I love you more.” Leanna replies. Bozer thinks this is the best time to surprise Leanna.

“I have a surprise.” Bozer says and Leanna glances at him with furrowed eyebrows and a smile. Leanna stands up from his lap so he can get up and go to his jacket that’s on the hanger. He comes back with one hand behind his back.

“What?” Leanna asks with a laugh. Bozer brings out his hand to reveal two tickets for Rihanna’s upcoming concert. “No way!” Leanna takes one ticket and she can’t believe her eyes. The concert is in three days in San Francisco. Leanna jumps into Bozer and hugs him. Bozer laughs from the force of Leanna’s hug.

“I thought we might get a few days for ourselves. And I saw a poster about Rihanna singing in San Francisco, so I said ‘Why not?’. And we’ll stay there for four days. I got us a hotel and talked with Matty. She gave us permission. We’ll go and visit the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, the Palace of Fine Arts. What do you say?” Bozer asks.

“Are you kidding me, babe? Of course it’s a yes!” Leanna says. The both of them have never been to San Francisco, so Bozer is gonna make sure that this is the perfect road trip for the both of them.

_ATLANTA, GEORGIA_

Mac looks at the sketch on his phone, and then looks out the window. “Yep. Definitely Bishop’s apartment.” Mac says. They arrived, Mac picked the lock of the door and here they are. In the apartment of a federal agent killer. He turns around and glances at Jack who has his gun in his hands.

“Well, you could’ve at least waited to block our only exit until I made sure the guy who…” Jack has his gun up and starts searching the rooms, “likes to kill federal agents isn’t home?” Jack says.

“I’m just glad we broke into the right apartment.” Mac says as he finds a couple of boxes of Gooey-Pies on the table. “Trig’s a little rusty.” Mac says. He needs to practice some trigonometry after this mission…if they survive that is. Mac also spots a kettle beside the boxes and puts his hand on it.

“You’re sure this is the guy’s place?” Jack asks.

“Yeah.” Mac replies. “Kettle’s still warm. He was just here.” Mac says. Mac spots a sketch on the table of a face. And Mac realizes that that person is Ilene. _‘Looks like Bishop is in love.’_ Mac says to himself.

“Okay, so…what, did he hear us coming and take off, or what?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, or he’s coming back.” Mac replies as he puts the sketch down on the table. He then sees a newspaper on the chair. He picks it up and sees something written at the top. _’23-5?_ ’ What could that mean?

“I say we hole up across the street and wait for him.” Jack says as Mac rips the part of the newspaper with the numbers. Then they hear the doorknob start turning. Jack points his gun towards the door. “Maybe he forgot something.” Jack says. Mac goes and stands next to Jack. The door bashes open and two men dressed in suits and have pistols in their hands come in.

“FBI! FBI!” The two men point their guns at Mac and Jack.

“Drop-drop it!!” Jack yells as he points his gun towards them.

“FBI! Hands in the air!!” One of the men yells and Mac puts his hands up.

“You drop it!!” Jack yells.

“Hands in the air! Hands in the air!” Mac pushes Jack’s hands down so he can drop the gun. Jack does that and puts his hands up.

The FBI agents brought them outside at their cars and started searching Mac and Jack. They also put handcuffs on their hands.

“One’s got a gun, the other has a Swiss Army Knife. No identification of any kind.” One of the agent says.

“Alright, fellas, who are you and what are youse doing here?” The other agent asks. The agents are from Philly. Jack can tell from the way they talk. Now, Mac and Jack can’t tell them the truth, cause the Phoenix is a secret spy organization.

“Okay, we are door-to-door Bible salesmen.” Jack lies and smiles.

“Do yourself a favor and don’t get smart. Okay, fella?”

“Okay.” Jack replies.

“Now tell us your names.” The agent says.

“What are we being charged with?” Mac asks.

“You were caught in the apartment of a wanted felon.” The agent answers.

“Right, but what are we being charged with?” Mac asks. “If we’re being formally charged, we have a right to know.” The agents grab them both and shoved them in the car.

“He just asked you a question.” Jack says as the agents close the door of the car and stay outside. One of the agents opens the passenger door, only to drop the SAK on the passenger seat. “Well, so much for finding Bishop before the feds do.” Jack mutters

“I don’t think these guys had to find him. Did you hear their accents?” Mac asks.

“They’re not from around here, that’s a Philly accent.” Jack answers.

“Yeah. Bishop’s old stomping grounds.” Mac says. Jack glances at Mac and then back at the agents who are way in front of the car talking.

“If either one of these are on Bishop’s payroll, I don’t think this trip ends at the FBI field office.” Jack says.

“Nope.” Mac replies. Just like he said on the jet. This mission sounded simple. And look how it turned out. They’re probably gonna get killed by these two if they don’t get out of the car.

“We got to get out of here.” Jack says. Mac already has an idea. “Think of something.” Jack says.

“Oh, I got something. And even I don’t like it.” Mac replies. Jack glances to where Mac is staring and sees the column shifter behind the steering wheel. He knows what Mac’s plan is now.

“Do it.” Jack says. With both hands behind his back, Mac is in pain when he stretches his leg towards the steering wheel. He bites his lower lip as he tries his hardest. Thankfully, his leg reaches the shifter, pushes it up and puts the car in neutral. Since the road was an uphill, the car starts going backwards. Jack laughs.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Jack says. Jack glances forwards to see the agents start running towards them. Mac brings his hands under him, then in front of his legs, and just like that his hands aren’t behind his back anymore. He quickly gets in the driver’s seat as Jack glances backwards to see if any cars are coming. So far nothing.

“Hey, points for originality, but this only counts as an escape if we don’t die.” Jack says. Mac sees that the agents are closing in.

“Yeah, this is the ‘even I don’t like it’ part.” Mac says as he locks the doors of the car just in time cause one of the agent was next to the door ready to open it. The agents stopped running from tiredness and Jack lets out a laugh. Mac grabs the bag with the SAK that was on the passenger seat and rips it, taking out the knife.

“Let’s go, man.” Jack says as he sees Mac go down to where the wires are. He glances behind them and sees that a car has entered the street and it’s heading right for them. “Faster, Mac.” Jack says.

Mac then hears a horn from behind him. He looks at the mirrors and sees a car approaching them. He grabs the wheel and turns. Since the car isn’t on, the steering is locked. But it’s enough for them to avoid the car. Now that that’s out of the way, Mac needs to hurry up with the wires and start the car, because they are approaching a street where a lot of cars are passing.

“We got ignition.” Mac says. He grabs the steering wheel and turns it, doing a 180. While spinning, Mac sees that Jack’s face is smacked up against the window. They avoid three cars, and center the car on the street. Mac floors it cause they need to get out of this car fast.

“Yeah! That was awesome!” Jack shouts. Mac has his eyes wide and is breathing heavily. “Now, let’s never do it again. Just a reminder.” Jack says and Mac smiles.

“Gladly.” Mac replies.

“Let’s not tell Matty about our run-in with the feds.” Jack says.

“Yep, I was thinking the same thing.” Mac replies and Jack laughs.

_10 MINUTES LATER_

“And you thought you didn’t need to tell me about stealing a car from two FBI agents because you were hoping I wouldn’t find out?” Matty asks over the phone.

“Sorry, Matty, but I have no idea what you are talking about right now.” Jack says. They were in a parking garage on 3rd floor right now. They left the Sedan in an alley and now are searching for a new car.

“We’re up on all FBI communications, Jack. And I’m looking at a field report from two agents whose Sedan was just boosted by two male suspects found in Bishop’s apartment.” Matty says.

“Well, that could be anybody.” Jack replies.

“Okay, yes, we should’ve told you. But it’s not the headline here. We were in Bishop’s apartment two minutes before the feds showed up, and they were from Philly.” Mac says.

“We’re already looking at every fed in the Philly office. This now moves your new pals, Brooks and Cho, to the top of the suspect list. But I needed you two to find Bishop before the feds. And from what Riley is telling me, you might’ve missed your chance.” Matty says with an angry voice.

“The FBI’s watching all mass transit. They just found a car registered under Bishop’s alias, parked in front of a train station.” Riley says.

“Great. Now we definitely know he’s not on a train.” Mac says. Riley furrows her eyebrows.

“And…we know that how?” Riley asks.

“Because Bishop’s been on the run for eight years. He’s too smart to make a rookie mistake like that.” Mac says.

“Okay, we know where he’s not. Got anything to tell us where he is?” Matty asks. Mac remembers the newspaper in Bishop’s apartment. Now that public transport was mentioned, he knows what those numbers mean. He takes out the peace of paper with the numbers he ripped from his pocket.

“Riles, check all Atlanta bus schedules. See if there’s a bus 23 parked at 5 PM.” Mac says. Riley nods and gets to typing.

“Yep. Bus 23 departs from Forsyth Station at 5 PM today.” Riley replies.

“How’d you know that, blondie?” Matty asks.

“I read the paper.” Mac says. That’s when the door of the war room opens and Leanna walks in with three cups of coffee. Riley glances at her and realizes that she hasn’t stopped smiling for hours.

“Okay, what’s up. You can’t stop smiling.” Riley says as she takes her cup of coffee. Leanna glances at her and then at Matty.

“Bozer is taking me to San Francisco to Rihanna’s concert.” Leanna answers.

“No way!” Riley says. Leanna nods and laughs. Matty smiles now that Bozer’s surprise worked. Mac looks at Jack who mouths _“Your turn bro.”_ to Mac.

“Yeah, okay, guys, we love to stay and chitchat, but it looks like we have a bus to catch. Bye-bye.” Jack says and hangs up. Moments later a technician walks in the war room with a tablet in her hand.

“Ma’am, you have an incoming call from Martin Dryer on the secure line.” The technician says.

“Should I know Martin Dryer?” Matty asks.

“Regional director of the FBI.” The technician answers.

“Oh, fancy, I’ll take it in here. Thanks.” Matty says. The technician accepts the call and leaves the war room. “Director Dryer, Matilda Webber, what can I do for you?”

“Ms. Webber, please forgive the bluntness of my question, but I am on the clock.” Dryer says over the phone. “Do you have any agents in the field in Atlanta?” Matty shares a look with Riley and Diane. _‘How does Dryer know?’_

“Well, I’m not sure what agency do you think I work for, but I’m…” Matty gets interrupted by Dryer.

“Actually, Ms. Webber, I have no idea where you landed. What I do know is that you transferred out of a high lever position with CIA and you didn’t show up anywhere else. And since the CIA, the NSA and the DEA won’t claim the two operatives that stole an FBI vehicle in Atlanta, I figured maybe they were working for you.” Dryer says. Okay, so he didn’t know about the Phoenix.

“I can neither confirm nor deny.” Matty replies.

“Don’t want to share any intel with me, that’s fine, I get it. But I’m gonna share some with you. Did you get the InterAgency Memo about one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted showing up in viral video? Douglas Bishop?” Dryer asks.

“It might have crossed my desk.” Matty answers.

“Well, I believe that Bishop has eluded capture for so long because he has one of our agents on his payroll.” Dryer says.

“Huh. Interesting theory.” Matty says.

“I wish it were just a theory. It’s just come to my attention that two of the agents from our Philly office are down in Atlanta looking for Bishop. Without authorization, a thousand miles outside their jurisdiction.” Dryer says.

“And you think one or both of them might be dirty?” Matty asks.

“I do, but without knowing all the players in their game, I can’t be completely sure, so I’m gonna ask you again.” Dryer says but before he starts asking, Matty speaks.

“Come on, Martin. Don’t make me do the “confirm or deny” thing twice in one phone call.” Matty says.

“Okay, look, cards on the table. I don’t know who I can trust in the Bureau right now, but I do know your reputation, so if there’s anything you can do to help…”

“I would do it in a heartbeat.” Matty interrupts him. “And if and when that opportunity should arise, you’ll be the first to know. In the meantime, good luck with your missing car.” Matty says and hangs up. She glances at Riley and Leanna. “The moment we have Bishop, call me.” Leanna and Riley both nod as Matty leaves the war room.

_ATLANTA BUS DEPOT_

Mac and Jack arrive at the bus station. And there is a lot of people. Not just outside but inside as well. But, since it was almost 5 PM, they assume that Bishop is outside waiting for the bus. They get in the crowd and start searching.

“Hey, where would Riley want to go on a road trip?” Mac asks Jack as they search. Jack doesn’t answer immediately from focusing on finding Bishop.

“What?” Jack asks and Mac sighs.

“Where would Riley like to go on a road trip?” Mac asks again.

“I don’t know…” Jack replies as looks at every direction.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Mac asks with an annoyed voice.

“You’re gonna have to ask her yourself, man.” Jack answers.

“Come on, man. If I knew Diane and you just started dating and wanted to ask her on a road trip, you wouldn’t leave me alone. You’d be like, ‘Hey, listen, man. You need to tell me…’…” Mac is interrupted by Jack.

“Yeah, yeah, do that Yosemite Sam, I’m-a punch you right in the mouth. Go on.” Jack says as he gets his fist ready. But Mac just laughs. Jack again looks around and spots Bishop. “Oh. There’s our boy.” Jack nods to the direction where Bishop is. Which is behind Mac. Mac turns around and sees Bishop. He was wearing a cap and has a bag over his shoulder.

They both start walking towards them, but Bishop spotted them. “Hey.” Jack calls. Bishop drops the bag and starts running. “Hey! Hey, stop!” Jack starts chasing him. Mac did as well only to stop at a cart with some bottles on it. Bishop bumps into a woman, and the woman falls on the ground. “Move, move, move!” Jack shouts to the people.

Bishop crosses the street and enters a park. Jack is close behind him but Bishop is fast. Then Jack spots Mac on his right side, waving something above his head. Jack can’t see what it is from the running, but he knows it’s something to stop Bishop. The next thing Jack sees, is Bishop on the ground with a string wrapped around his legs. Both ends of the string had bottles.

Jack takes out his gun and stops in front of Bishop who was laying on the ground. “Bishop! Hey, hey, hey, relax!” Jack says. “No more running, you understand me?” Bishop gets himself up but not on his feet. He just sits on the ground.

“Who are you?” Bishop asks with a shaky voice. _‘For a federal agent killer, he looks really scared. Or maybe he’s acting.’_ Mac says to himself.

“I can tell you who we’re not: we’re not your buddies at the FBI.” Jack replies.

“No, don’t turn me over to the FBI. Please.” Bishop says. Mac and Jack share a smile.

“You can drop the act. We know you have an FBI agent on your payroll.” Mac says and Bishop gives him a confused look.

“What?! No!” Bishop says as he takes off his cap and throws it hard on the ground. “I never had a fed in my pocket. It was the other way around.” Either this guy is a professional actor or he is maybe telling the truth.

“You better explain that statement.” Jack says. Bishop immediately starts talking.

“For years, an FBI agent has been forcing me to do his dirty work. If he finds me, he’ll kill me.” Bishop says with actual fear in his voice. And Mac notices that.

“Alright, get up.” Mac says and Bishop does so. Mac guides him towards their car and ties his hands up with a string. “So, a dirty FBI agent is trying to kill you. Who is it? Give us a name.” Mac says.

“If I knew his name, you think I’d still be running?” Bishop asks. “I never met the guy. For years it’s just been a voice over the phone, threatening to kill me if I didn’t do what he said.”

“Do what he said, huh? Like what?” Jack asks.

“Whatever he told me to do.” Bishop answers. “Ratting people out, planting evidence.”

“Murdering a federal agent?” Jack says as he shows Bishop a picture of Eva Santos. Bishop glances at the picture and his eyes go wide.

“Eva? I didn’t kill her! I was trying to confess to her! I was gonna turn myself in.” Bishop says as Jack puts his phone away and looks down. “I-I couldn’t take working for this guy anymore. And I needed a fed who I knew I could trust. Eva had a spotless record a-and…there’s no way she could be the guy at the other end of the phone, right?” Jack glances at Mac who was listening carefully to Bishop.

“So, I-I told her that I wanted out, I wanted to testify, I-I wanted to help take down this bastard been runnin’ me. She offered protective custody. But the night we met up for her to take me in, someone shot her.” Bishop says.

“That’s not what the evidence say.” Jack says.

“Who’s collecting this evidence, huh? The FBI. This dirty agent killed Eva to cover his tracks. They tried to pin it on me. And if he was willing to kill her, I knew I’d be next. So I ran.” Bishop says. Mac bites the inside of his cheek and glances at Jack. He doesn’t know if he should believe the guy or not.

“Ladies, did you catch all that?” Mac asks.

“Yep, we did.” Riley replies.

“Hey, guys. Remember those two feds you guys ran into?” Leanna asks.

“Brooks and Cho? How could I forget.” He replies with a smile. “They ever find their car?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they did, because after you all became besties, I took the liberty of illegally tracking their phones.” Leanna replies. Riley glances at her with wide yes. _‘Illegally?’_ Leanna just winks at her and smiles. “Looks like they just pulled up at the depot.”

They hear tires screeching from braking so hard. They turn around and see Brooks and Cho coming out of a new car. “Oh, I don’t know if I’m ready to believe his story, but I’m sure as hell not ready to hand him over to these guys.” Mac says.

“Agreed.” Jack says as Mac puts Bishop in the back. “Let’s get anywhere that ain’t here, so we can hole up, figure this out.” Jack says as he gets in the car.

“Alright, girls, talk to you later.” Mac says.

“Stay safe.” Riley replies and the comms go off. Leanna glances at the door and sees Matty leaning against the door frame. She points at herself and then at Riley, telling Leanna that she wanted to talk to Riley. Leanna understood her and quietly leaves the room. Matty closes the door and that makes Riley turn to her.

“Riley, I want to talk to you.” Matty says as she approaches her.

“Oh, okay.” Riley says as she closes her laptop. _‘Did I do something?’_ She asks herself. She gulps and says “I don’t know if you heard, but Mac and Jack caught Bishop and said that…”

“He was framed by a dirty fed for murder. Yeah, I’m on comms too.” Matty says. Matty gets in front of her and looks her in the eyes. “I wanted to talk to you about the last mission. When Jack and Mac were in the woods.” Matty says. Riley slightly parts her lips and sighs. She knows what this is about. _‘Mac told me it is normal, looks like it isn’t._ ’

“Um…Ms. Webber…”

“Matty. Please, call me Matty.”

“…Matty, I apologize for how I was behaving that day. It’s unacceptable to cry while doing this job. And I promise I will work on my emotions. I really will do everything I can.” Riley says. Riley glances at Matty who had a smile on her face. _‘Why’s she smiling…’_

Matty approaches her and puts her hand on Riley’s knee. “How you acted that day was perfectly acceptable, Riley. For a first mission, it was a rough one. There is a reason why I offered you a job at the Phoenix. I see something special in you. You have skills that can be used for the good. When Jack offered you to go to Shanghai with them, I thought you were gonna say no, but you said yes immediately. That’s when I knew that your place is right here. Every agent is scared, Riley. It wasn’t just you that day. I’m sure Leanna and Bozer were as scared as you. They are trained to hide it, though. And you will be too. I don’t want you to leave the Phoenix. Because this job is meant for you. I also know that in the hacking world, you are known as Artemis37.” Matty says. Riley’s eyes go wide. “It’s okay. I know that you left your best friends so you don’t become a criminal. Which I respect so much. Again, Riley, this is the place for you.” Matty ends with a smile on her face. Riley of course has watery eyes after that. How could she not? She thought that it was over. Matty saying that crying is unacceptable and that she is fired. But she said the complete opposite. Riley nods and as a tear runs down her cheek she quickly wipes it.

“Thank you, Matty.” Riley says.

“Now, how about you help me figure out if Bishop is lying to us?” Matty asks with a grin.

“Yeah.” Riley says as she opens her laptop.

Mac, Jack and Bishop paid for one night at a small motel they found. Just for them to lay low until the morning, rest a little bit. Mac untied Bishop’s hands, cause he trusts him, but just a little bit. Jack went out to buy some food for dinner, while Mac and Bishop stayed in the room. While Bishop is making a sketch, Mac is making a device to tell him if someone is coming to their room.

He finds a small fan in the room and takes the cover off. He finds a couple of long strings and ties them to the fan. He goes outside and before the stairs, he puts two binder clips on each side. He puts the string through the whole on the left binder clip, spreads the string across the floor and puts it through the whole of the other binder clip. Now, if someone is coming, he will step on the string and the fan in the room will start spinning.

Mac goes in the room and sits next to Bishop who was still making a sketch. Mac takes out a paperclip and starts bending it. 5 minutes later, the fan starts spinning. Bishop gives Mac a worried look and Mac told him to be quiet. Mac gets up and moves the curtain a bit so he can see who’s coming. He sighs in relief when he sees that it’s only Jack and he opens the door.

“Hey.” Jack says as he comes in with full hands. “Anything from Phoenix?”

“Not a peep.” Mac says as he closes the door. “They’re still combing through old FBI case files, trying to make sure his story checks out.

“Yeah, okay, good. So, I parked the rental car about ten blocks to the south, searched the perimeter. The good news is, our pals, Brooks and Cho have no earthly idea where we are.” Jack says with a smile. But Mac gives him a confused look and asks,

“What’s the bad news?”

“Oh, the diner across the street’s closed. So, dinner’s coming out of the motel vending machine.” Jack says as he puts all the bags of chips, candies and drinks on the table. “There you go, bon appetite.”

“Where do Gooey-Pies and diet soda fall on the food’s pyramid?” Mac asks sarcastically.

“Oh, I don’t know, I just try to represent every food group. Here you go, America’s Most Wanted, have a Gooey-Pie.” Jack says as he throws a Gooey-Pie at Bishop.

“No, thanks. I hate these things.” Bishop says as he throws the Gooey-Pie on the table.

“What?” Jack asks sounding shocked.

“Then why’d you buy them everyday?” Mac asks.

“Cause he didn’t go there for the Gooey-Pies, he went there for Ilene, didn’t you?” Jack asks with a grin. He can see a smile on Bishop’s face while he was drawing. Bishop glances at Jack.

“When I first got into town, I’d been on the run for about three months. I happened to walk in this little convenience store and there she was.” Bishop says as he shows the sketch he’s been drawing to Jack and Mac. “Ilene.” _‘Pretty good drawing.’_ Mac says to himself. Looks just like Ilene.

“She smiled at me. That was it. First time anyone showed me any kindness in I don’t know how long. I just stood there smiling back at her like a dumbass.” Bishop says with a laugh. “She asked me what I wanted. I-I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even think. And I just pointed at the Gooey-Pies.”

“Well, that explains the first box.” Mac says.

“Well, next time I went in, she smiled at me again and I pointed at the Gooey-Pies.” Bishop says. “Guess I was afraid that if I explained to her that I didn’t like Gooey-Pies, I might end up telling her my whole life story. Sounds crazy, right?” Bishop says with sadness in his voice.

“Being on the run can do weird things to your mind.” Mac says and Bishop nods while drawing.

“So, you guys, uh, are really not FBI?” Bishop asks as he glances at them.

“Come on, baby, do we look like FBI?” Jack asks with a smile and drinks some soda.

“Just know that with us you’re safe.” Mac says. Bishop gives him a look filled with hope.

“So I might actually get the chance to testify and go to prison?” Bishop says.

“Do you want to go to prison?” Mac asks.

“I know being locked up is no picnic, but what I’ve been through the past eight years is no kind of life. You can’t get close to anyone, you can’t even trust anyone. I mean…” Bishop trails off as he looks at drawing. Mac and Jack exchange sad looks.

“I met the love of my life six years ago, and I can’t even risk asking her out to dinner. Or go on a road trip or something.” Bishop says. Road trip got mentioned again. Maybe this is a sign for Mac that he should take Riley somewhere after this mission.

“A few minutes with the right one is better than a lifetime with the wrong one.” Jack says as he takes a sip of his soda. Bishop glances at Jack and smiles.

“What’s her name?” he asks.

“Diane.” Jack answers with a smile. Bishop puts the drawing on the table and opens a bottle of diet soda.

“Well, here’s to Diane, and Ilene.” Bishop says as he raises his bottle. And so does Jack. Then Mac’s phone starts ringing. It’s Matty, so he answers.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“So this is interesting. We’re going through the FBI’s evidence list in the Eva Santos murder case.” Matty says. Mac stands up and walks to the back of the room and Jack follows, while Bishop gets back to drawing.

“‘Interesting’ as in he’s been telling the truth or ‘interesting’ as in he’s been lying through his teeth?” Mac asks quietly.

“Well, that’s the interesting part. The FBI’s key evidence is a security video of the murder.” Matty says.

“I’m sending it to you now.” Leanna says. Jack’s phone buzzes and he takes it out. He plays the video and see Bishop and Eva in the parking garage. The video goes static for two seconds and they couldn’t see anything. When the picture goes clean, Eva is on her knees and falls on the ground.

“Well, this doesn’t look good for Bishop.” Jack says.

“Well, that’s what we thought, too, at first.” Leanna says.

“This video was recorded using a 15 year old CCD surveillance camera onto magnetic tape.” Riley says.

“Hence all the static.” Mac says.

“Hence almost all the static. We ran statistical analysis on the video. Most of the static is just random noise, actual degradation. But the burst that happens when Santos was shot contains repeating patterns.” Leanna says.

“Meaning it was computer generated?” Mac asks.

“Meaning that this video has been tampered with. Someone added the static in the moment Santos was shot.” Matty says. Mac and Jack share a glance.

“So, if Bishop was telling the truth, the person who tampered with the video and the person who shot her are the same. Our dirty fed?” Mac says.

“We need to see what really happened.” Jack says. “Girls, one of you two, can you twist the vertical knob thingy…” Jack is interrupted by Leanna.

“Okay, one, no one knows what you’re talking about. Two, if you mean clean it up, the answer’s yes. Me and Riley used the static’s repeating pattern to back-engineer the algorithm that rendered it…”

“Hey, yeah, nobody knows what you’re talking about. Just do it.” Jack interrupts her.

“I do.” Riley says and laughs a bit.

“This is what the video looks like with the fake static removed.” Leanna says. Mac and Jack watch the video, and at the point where the static appeared, a man appears from behind a black SUV that’s parked behind Bishop. That man takes out his gun and shoots Eva Santos in the chest. Mac and Jack both turn around and glance at Bishop.

“Well, have yourself a Gooey-Pie, Bishop. Your story checks out.” Jack says.

“He didn’t shoot Santos. And someone at the FBI made it look like he did. So there is a dirty fed.” Mac says. And that’s when the fan on the table starts spinning. _‘Someone’s coming.’_

“Guys? We just intercepted an FBI bulletin that went to the Atlanta PD 15 minutes ago. It gives your exact location and warns that all three of you are armed and dangerous.” Riley says. The three of them hear cars pulling up. Mac moves the curtain a bit and sees a SWAT team approaching the motel.

“Which would explain why the SWAT team’s outside loaded for bear.” Mac says as he glances at Jack. The fan is spinning like crazy and it looks like it’s about to break. So Mac cuts the string with his SAK.

“Well, whoever this dirty fed is, he isn’t stupid. Sending the locals to grab us so he can stay anonymous? That’s a smart move.” Jack says as Mac looks around to find something he can use for possibly an exit.

“Can we marvel at his intelligence after we escape?” Mac asks sounding annoyed.

“Sounds like we’re all on the same page. How do we get out of here?”

“All clear! Move out!” They hear the SWAT team shout. And that’s when an idea came in Mac’s head.

“Jack, give me your room key.” Mac says. “Is there a Bible in there?” Mac points to the counter next to the bed. Bishop opens it and finds a Bible. He takes it and gives it to Mac. Mac starts rubbing his knife on the key.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jack asks.

“Making a bump key to get to into the adjoining room. If I can file it down enough, I can jam it in the keyhole and bump the lock open.” Mac says. He puts the key in the keyhole and hits it with the Bible. The door opens and Mac peeks inside. There is nobody there, but he can hear a whistle. He sees the bathroom door slightly open and steam coming out. The person is taking a shower.

“Let’s go.” Mac whispers. Bishop takes the drawing of Ilene and puts it in his pocket. They follow Mac in the room and slowly move to the door at the end of the room. Bishop glances at the bathroom and sees that the person is taking the tower that was hanging on the door. Mac’s eyes go wide and slowly speeds up. They make it to the door. Mac opens it and goes to the other room, and spots a little girl playing with a teddy bear on the bed while her parents are sleeping. _‘Oh crap…’_ Mac smiles and waves at the little girl. The girl brings her hand up and waves back. Bishop closes the door, and Jack puts his pointer finger in front of his mouth, telling the little girl to be quiet. The little girl nods and gives him a thumbs up, which Jack returns.

They hear the SWAT team break into a room. It was loud, but not loud enough to wake up the parents. _‘Thank God.’_ Mac opens the front door and peeks out to see a SWAT member looking the other way. He waves his hand at Bishop and Jack telling them to follow. Bishop goes after Mac, and Jack is last, giving another thumbs up to the little girl before closing the door quietly and follow Mac and Bishop.

_10 MINUTES LATER_

“Where are you now?” Leanna asks. Jack glances at the houses they are passing to see the name of the street.

“We’re on 75 South.” Jack says. Mac is holding the phone while Jack is driving. “We couldn’t make it back to our rental car, so…we kind of stole another one.” Jack says.

“You stole another vehicle?” Matty asks.

“At least this one doesn’t belong to the federal government.” Mac says.

“Yeah, it should be noted here, Matty, that we’re telling you the truth this time.” Jack says.

“The truth. I’m honored. What do you want, a cookie?” Matty asks sarcastically.

“Cookies are good, man, I like ‘em.” Jack replies.

“Not the way I’m gonna feed ‘em to you, you won’t.” Matty says. Riley smirks at that comment. Bozer comes in the war room and glances at everyone.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Bozer asks.

“Yo, Boze.” Jack says. He hasn’t heard Bozer since they left from LA to Atlanta.

“Okay, well, while you two have been busy racking up felonies, I think we identified our dirty fed.” Matty says. “Riley traced the FBI bulletin that sent the SWAT team after you guys.”

“Whoever issued the order tried to anonymize themselves, but I was able to match the device that sent the order to the IMEI to the number of a cell phone we’re already monitoring.” Riley says. That’s when a picture of agent Brooks appear on Mac’s phone.

“Agent Brooks. Why am I not surprised?” Mac asks sarcastically.

“Our agents took him into custody ten minutes ago, but we’re still checking if his partner, Cho, or any other feds are involved.” Matty says.

“So it’s safe to bring in Bishop now?” Mac asks.

“I’m making arrangements now for you to hand him off to an FBI agent I trust. We’ll send you location details as soon as we get them.” Matty says.

“Copy that.” Mac says and hangs up. Matty glances at the others. Riley is working on her laptop, while Leanna is explaining to Bozer about the mission.

_THE NEXT DAY_

Matty is in front of the big screen in the war room waiting for Mac and Jack to arrive at the location she sent them. She hears a knock on the door behind her. She turns around and sees Bozer standing at the doorway.

“You’re here early.” Matty says.

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you.” Bozer says.

“Not right now. The hand off is about to happen.” Matty says.

“It’s about this mission. With Bishop.” Bozer says. Matty stares at him and sighs.

“Okay, what?” Matty asks.

“I was looking through agent Brooks’ file, the guy you say is guilty, and…something feels off to me.” Bozer says.

“Explain.” Matty says.

“According to his FBI file, Brooks is in his 40s, with 20 years of experience at the Bureau.” Bozer says.

“Okay, I know that, Bozer.” Matty says.

“My point is, Brooks is still running around on street detail. If he had been dirty all this time, using Bishop to plant evidence and frame people, don’t you think he’d be higher up the ladder by now?” Bozer asks. “Look, Matty, I’ve had tons of bosses before I came to work here. And Brooks, he’s no boss.” Bozer adds. Matty thinks that Bozer has a point. So she picks up the phone and calls the FBI agent she trusts. But nobody answers. She tries again but nobody answers.

_HAND OFF LOCATION_

Jack enters the parking garage on goes to the 4th floor. Matty said that the FBI agent would be there. As he rounds up a corner, he sees a man in a suit standing in front of his car. _‘That must be him.’_ Jack parks the car and turns it off.

“Thank you guys. Because the both of you, I can feel free. And after this, I’m gonna tell Ilene everything. Tell her that I’m in love with her. I just hope she feels the same.” Bishop says.

“You won’t find out unless you tell her.” Jack says with a smile. That’s what Jack said to Mac about Riley when they were coming back from Shanghai. Mac smiles and gets out of the car. Jack and Bishop do the same.

“Let’s go.” Jack says to Bishop and Bishop nods. Jack and Bishop start walking towards the agent when Mac’s phone rings. It’s Matty.

“Yeah?”

“Did you make the handoff yet?” Matty asks Mac.

“No, we’re doing it right now.” Mac replies.

“Is the agent you’re with a six foot one black guy?” Matty asks. Mac glances at the agent. He was that height, but the skin color isn’t. This agent is white.

“No, why?” Mac asks.

“Then whoever you are meeting with is not the agent I sent to bring in Bishop.” Matty replies.

“Take good care of him.” Jack says.

“Will do.” The agent replies. Bishop freezes on the spot.

“That voice…” Bishop says. Mac immediately starts running.

“Jack, get Bishop away from him now!” Mac shouts. Jack glances at him to see him running towards them. “Don’t let him get Bishop!” Jack turns around quickly and sees that the agent has Bishop and that he is pointing a gun towards him.

“If I were you, cowboy, I’d back away slowly, or someone’s gonna get hurt.” The agent says. When Matty hears that voice, she realizes that she talked with this agent before. _‘Martin Dryer.’_

Matty storms out of the war room. “You! I want every Phoenix agent in MacGyver’s vicinity now headed for his location now.” Matty says to a man that was having a conversation with a woman. “You, get the deputy director of the FBI on the phone now. You, contact the Atlanta chief of police. I want every black and white backing up our people!” Matty says with a raised voice. She is pissed right now. Dryer played with her. And she doesn’t like to get played.

“Ma’am, I’ve got the deputy direct…” the woman didn’t finish cause Matty took the phone from her hand.

“Lou, it’s Matty. You know that fugitive you guys are looking for, Douglas Bishop? Yeah, well, we found him, and one of your agents is about to kill him.” Matty says.

Mac puts his hands up and tries to calm the situation. “Dryer, put the gun down and let’s talk.” Mac says. “I don’t see you walking away from this.” He adds.

“Sure I will. Like you said, I’m the one with the gun. I was trying to keep this all nice and neat. I was hoping to end all of this by taking Bishop for a little walk in the woods and then quietly retiring, no one the wiser…”

“Yeah, yeah, life’s full of disappointments. Drop the gun.” Jack interrupts him. Dryer doesn’t and just glances at both of them. “You can’t shoot us all, I can promise you that.” Jack says. Dryer looks at him and smiles.

“I don’t have to shoot everybody, just Bishop. Cause I don’t care if he dies. But you do.” Dryer says as he puts the gun on Bishop’s back and slowly backs away from them. “So, you are gonna stay where you are…”

“No, I’m not.” Jack interrupts him again and starts approaching him slowly.

“Uh-uh…” Dryer stops and points the gun at Jack, so Jack stops, “…and we’re gonna back up, get in the car, and drive away.” Dryer starts backing up and Mac and Jack starts going after him at the same pace.

“Then what? Killing him won’t end this. We know you’re dirty. Our boss has proof.” Mac says.

“What, you don’t think I have an exit strategy? I’ve been socking away cash for years.” Dryer says as Mac spots the power box. Jack can see that the kid has a plan. “And I’ve become an expert in making people disappear. So when I’m gone, you’ll never find me.”

“Think this through. Being on the run sucks. Just ask Bishop.” Jack says and the next thing he knows, sparks come down from the lights at the top. Mac, while doing something to the power box, covers his face so he doesn’t get burnt. He hears Jack start running towards Bishop, and then he hears a gunshot. His eyes open and he moves himself from the power box. Sparks stop falling and he searches for Jack. He can see that Jack has Dryer on the ground and pointing a gun at him.

But then he sees something horrible. Bishop is on the ground, with his hands on the center of his chest. “Bishop!!” Mac runs and kneels beside him. There is blood all over him. Dryer must’ve somehow shot him. He puts his hands on Bishop’s chest to keep pressure. “Hey, hey, stay with me! Stay with me!” No, Bishop can’t die. He doesn’t deserve this. He deserves to go back to Ilene and be with her. He deserves a happy life. Not this. “Don’t die on me!”

Bishop coughs a lot and blood starts coming from his mouth. He reaches with a shaky and bloody hand in his pocket. He takes out the drawing of Ilene, but he is holding it from the back so he doesn’t make the paper that he drew Ilene on with blood. He gives the drawing to Mac.

“Give…this…to-to…Ilene…p-please…” Bishop says with a shaky voice as a tear slides down his temple. And after that, Bishop’s hands drop and he stops breathing. Mac removes his hands from Bishop’s chest and sits down. He drops the drawing on the ground so he doesn’t make it with blood from his hands. His eyes sting as he sees Bishop not moving, laying there…dead. He glances at Jack who is sad and pissed at the same time. If the Atlanta PD didn’t show up, Jack would’ve made Dryer beg for Jack to kill him.

Mac watches the medics carrying Bishop in a body bag. He got his hands cleaned up, got checked for burns, but everything is fine. Same goes for Jack, who is now handing off Dryer to Brooks and Cho.

“We’re sorry we got you busted. It was an accident.” Jack says.

“It was an honest mistake. And besides, we’re even now. This shithead has been torpedoing my whole career for over a decade. I’m gonna get a big promotion out of his bust.” Brooks says. Jack hands him Dryer and they leave.

Jack looks around and sees Mac, alone, leaning against the wall and looking at the ground. He wants to go and talk to him, but he decides against it. Maybe Mac needs some alone time right now. He spots a couple of officers searching Dryer’s car. He also notices how they back off when they open the trunk. _‘What was that about?’_ Jack asks himself. He walks over to the car and gets in front of the trunk, to see a body that’s been shot twice in the chest. He also spots the agent’s badge He takes out his phone and calls Matty.

“Jack?”

“Matty…the agent you sent to bring in Bishop, was it agent Paul?” Jack asks as he looks at the agent’s badge.

“Yes, why?” Matty asks. Jack sighs.

“They found him in Dryer’s trunk. Two shots to the chest.” Jack says. He can’t hear anything from Matty, only a shaky breath she releases. “I’m sorry, Matty.”

Jack parks in front of the convenience store where Ilene works. He glances at Mac who is looking at the drawing. Mac gets out of the car and gets in the convenience store. Jack also gets out of the car and leans against it. He watches Mac talking to Ilene. He sees Mac giving her the drawing, and while he was giving it to her, he must’ve said what happened, because Ilene has her hand covering her mouth and starts crying. She puts her head on Mac’s shoulder, and Mac starts rubbing her back to maybe calm her down. It was a sad scene to watch. _‘Son of a bitch…’_

_LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA_

Mac and Jack arrive at the Phoenix and are greeted by Riley, Bozer and Leanna. Riley hugs Mac and whispers,

“I’m sorry.” Mac tightens the grip and buries his face in her hair.

“Where’s Matty?” Jack asks.

“She left. She…she said she needed some time alone.” Leanna replies. They all stay silent for a while.

“What now?” Bozer asks.

“Nothing. Mission’s over. Here.” Mac throws his house keys to Bozer. “Go and make some dinner. I want to blow off some steam in the gym.” Mac says. He gives Riley a kiss and leaves for the gym.

After one and a half hour of training and screaming, he goes home all sticky and sweaty. As he approaches the front door, he spots a piece of paper on the mat. He picks it up and enters his house. He opens the paper and it says _“Soon.”_ Mac furrows his eyebrows and enters the living room to find all of them watching TV.

“Any of you drop this?” Mac says. Everyone shakes their head.

“What does it say?” Jack asks.

“Soon.” Mac answers.

“Soon…what?” Bozer asks.

“I don’t know, it just says _‘soon’._ ” Mac replies. “Anyway, I’m gonna go and take a shower.” Mac says. He goes to his room and throws the piece of paper on his bed. He takes a quick shower and gets dressed.

When he gets out of his bedroom, he sees Bozer and Leanna in the kitchen making dinner, Jack is watching TV, while Riley is on the balcony staring at the city. He approaches her from behind and puts his arms around her stomach. She leans back against him and smiles, as Mac gives her a kiss on the cheek.

“What do you say…we go on a road trip on Wednesday?” Mac asks.

“Where do you want to go?” Riley asks.

“Wherever you want to.” Mac answers as he kisses her neck. “Tomorrow, I want you to name me a place, and I’ll take you there on Wednesday.” Mac says. Riley turns around and kisses him on the lips.

This day has sucked. Maybe one of the worst. Losing two innocent lives…it does hurt. They caught the dirty fed, but…Bishop and agent Paul are gone. And that’s never gonna leave Mac’s head. Right now, he just wants to forget about this, and take his girl on a road trip this Wednesday. And there’s the note he found at the door. If nobody from the gang dropped it, then who put it there. And what did they mean by _‘Soon.’?_ Mac will admit, he is a little creeped out. And he doesn’t have a good feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3 Chapter 13 coming soon.


	13. Magnifying Glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here is a new chapter. After this, I won't post for a while cause I have exams coming up. Sorry if there are spelling mistakes or if something doesn't make sense. English isn't my mother language.

It’s been two weeks since the day two innocent lives were taken and a dirty agent from the FBI was caught. Since then, they have been healing. Especially Matty. She and agent Paul were good friends. Have known each other for a long time, and now he is gone. That day Matty just went home, and cried. The one thing she doesn’t do often. Matty gave the others a ten day break. So, Mac and Riley used the opportunity to go on a road trip, and Bozer and Leanna went to San Francisco.

The last four days, they didn’t get a mission. So, it was just doing paperwork and nothing else for Matty. Mac and Bozer started working on the robot they’ve planned to make for so long. Leanna and Jack continued to train Riley fighting. And Diane is doing a great work so far, showing guests the places they are allowed to see.

Matty is now getting ready for work. She drank some coffee, had breakfast, she had a shower and now she is getting dressed. While she’s getting dressed, her mind goes to that note that showed up on Mac’s doormat. Yes, Mac told her about that because nobody from the team left it and they asked every single person in the Phoenix. Everybody said no. Only two other people know where Mac lives. Murdoc and Nikki. But they are both locked up. Matty called the blacksite so they know for sure. The thing that sucks, is that they can’t figure out from who the note is. If Mac got the message on his phone or laptop, Riley or Leanna could’ve traced it. But no. This guy was smart.

As Matty is putting on her boots, he phone starts vibrating. She looks over and smiles when she sees who is calling her. She finishes zipping her boot and answers the phone.

“Hey, how are you?” Matty asks with a smile. But that smile falls and her heart stops when she hears what the person from the other line is saying. “What...?” she asks with a shaky voice.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

After a ten day break, it was nice to be back to work. The last four days, Mac and Bozer started working on Sparky. Bozer was practically jumping when Mac told him that they are gonna start on Sparky. They had no missions those four days, so why not? Plus, their cover is a think tank. And this is what think tanks do.

Right now, Mac, Riley, Jack, Bozer and Leanna are in the lab. Matty hasn’t arrived yet, so Mac and Bozer went to work on Sparky. Riley and Leanna are upgrading the security system, while Jack is sitting far back from Mac and Bozer. Apparently, Jack is scared of robots. And right now, seeing that thing laying on the table, half built, it gives him anxiety. _‘What if it jumps and kills us all?’_ Jack can’t stop asking himself that. He needs to talk Mac out of this. He stands up and walks over to Mac who is tightening a screw.

“I’m telling you, man, you are playing with fire here.” Jack says. When he looks at Sparky, his body shivers.

“Jack, since the day you joined us, we have…” Mac trails off as he takes off his glasses, “…stared down terrorists, defused countless bombs, and even stopped a planet-killing virus, and you’re scared off…”

“Robots.” Jack finishes his sentence. “Yeah, and if you were smart, you would be, too. Haven’t you heard of the robot apocalypse?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, in science fiction.” Mac says as he takes a tool from the tool box. “This is science fact. If the Phoenix is to pose as a think tank, every now and then, we have to do something think-tanky.” Mac says as he focuses back on Sparky.

“That’s cool. Let’s work on space rockets or solar panels, instead of trying to build our own Terminator here, man. It’s not a good idea.” Jack says with a wince and Mac glances at him.

“It’s not a Terminator.” Mac replies.

“Well, it looks like a Terminator.” Jack says. Bozer comes back with a metal tray with masks on it.

“Come on, Jack, the earliest applications for A.I. will most likely be in the field of patient care. Virtual helpers who will remind the elderly to take their medicine. What’s so scary about that?” Bozer asks as he puts the tray down.

“Well, nothing at first, until those virtual helper thingies become sentient, self-aware. They don’t want to listen to us anymore, and they rise up. I mean…the next thing you know, we’ll all be in float tanks with those…USB ports hanging out from the back of your head, I’m telling you.” Jack replies as he puts his hand on the back of the head.

“That’s The Matrix. You’re mixing up your doomsday theories.” Mac says and Bozer lets out a laugh.

“If you know so much about sci-fi, Jack, then you know about Isaac Asimov and the three laws of robotics that keep us all safe.” Bozer says with a smile.

“When it comes to robots, there’s only one man I trust.” Jack says. Mac and Bozer glance at him waiting for an answer. “Schwarzenegger.” Jack answers. Mac and Bozer share a glance and laugh. “I’m telling you, man, Arnie showed us the future, and it ain’t cuddly, boys.” Jack glances at the robot and says, “It’s a killer robot.” That’s when the robot’s eyes light up and the thing rises up quickly. Jack’s soul probably left his body. He screams and punches the robot’s face. The robot falls down, and by the sounds they hear, the robot broke.

“He was making a move…you saw him.” Jack says. Then he groans and holds his hand because of the pain from the punch. Mac and Bozer give him an annoying look as they shake their heads. “You sa…you saw him, he was making a move!” Looks like Riley and Leanna heard the scream, cause Mac sees them running towards them.

“What happened?!” Riley asks.

“That robot was making a move. He was gonna kill us! So I knocked him out.” Jack says.

“More like broke him.” Mac says. Leanna and Riley glance at Jack with an annoying look.

“Seriously, Jack?” Leanna asks.

“I…I’m telling you. We’re all doomed.” Jack says with a dramatic voice. They all start laughing.

“You should get some ice for that, by the way.” Mac tells Jack as he nods at his hand.

“It’ll be fine.” Jack says as he shakes his hand. “So, Mac and Riley…” They both glance at Jack, “…how was Redknife?” Jack asks with a smile. They both furrow their eyebrows.

“Yellowknife?” Mac asks.

“Whatever. How was your trip?” Jack asks. Mac wanted to take her somewhere in the states. But, since Matty gave them a ten day break, why not go out of country. Mac suggested Yellowknife, and showed some pictures to Riley of that place. After seeing the pictures, Riley agreed almost immediately.

“It was amazing.” Mac says with a smile. He turns to Riley waiting for her answer.

“It was terrible.” Riley says and Mac freezes. _‘What…’_ Mac can feel Jack’s eyes on him. Then Riley starts laughing and hugs Mac. “I’m kidding. I loved it.”

“10/10 joke.” Mac says sarcastically and hugs her back. “You sounded convincing though. Which is good. You need to learn how to lie in this job.”

“Yeah, Leanna’s been teaching me.” Riley says. Mac smiles at her and glances at the rest.

“We stayed outside one night and watched the aurora borealis. It was the best thing I’ve seen in my life.” Mac says and Riley nods.

“The what?” Jack asks.

“The Northern Lights.” Riley answers.

“Ah…why didn’t you just say that?” Jack says. Mac rolls his eyes and his phone starts buzzing. He sees a message from Matty.

“Matty needs us upstairs. Now.” Mac says as he places his phone in his pocket.

“So, are we getting rid of this?” Jack asks as he points to the robot.

“No!” Mac replies.

“You done lost your damn mind, Jack. That’s why you hurt your hand.” Bozer says. Mac grabs a small bag of ice and throws it at Jack. Jack catches it and places it on his hand.

“Gah, I hate robots, man!” Jack says.

Mac is the first to enter the war room with everyone behind him. As he enters, he sees Matty quickly wiping her cheek. He looks at the big screen to see two smiling teenagers. One male and one female. He sees another picture of them with the girl on a swing and the boy looking at her. Mac can see the heart eyes on the boy. Matty turns around and sees that Jack has a bag of ice on his hand. She sighs in frustration.

“What happened, Jack?” Matty asks.

“I punched a robot.” Jack replies as he sits down on a sofa. “What’s up?” Jack asks as he nods at the big screen.

“Last night, Vanessa Frank and Daniel Lee were found dead in a small park near San Francisco.” Matty says. _‘Damn…they look so young.’_ Mac says to himself. “They were having a picnic when an unidentified man gunned them down. An eyewitness told SFPD that he thought he saw the shooter walking away, but he couldn’t make a positive ID.” Matty says.

“Excuse me, Matty, maybe I didn’t get the memo. We’re a spy agency. This sounds like a straight-up murder case. Why can’t the SFPD handle this?” Jack asks. Matty stares at him for a little bit, before going to the windows. She presses her finger on it, and every window turns foggy. She walks back in front of the screen and says,

“Ordinarily, they would.” Mac can hear the sadness in her voice. _‘What is happening?’_ “But…Vanessa Frank was my goddaughter.” Matty says with a shaky voice. Mac has never seen Matty like this. He glances at everyone. Bozer exhaling, Riley and Leanna both looking down while Jack stands up from the sofa and kneels down in front of Matty and takes her hand.

“Matty, I’m sorry.” Mac says. Jack gives her hand a little squeeze as Matty nods.

“The eyewitness was a passing driver who spotted Vanessa and Dan from the road. He told SFPD that he saw a man in a black hood walking away from their bodies, holding a gun.” Matty says. Bozer’s wheels start turning in his head. This sounded too familiar…about something that happened in the past.

“A young couple in the park and a black-hooded shooter?” Bozer asks.

“What is it, Boze?” Riley asks.

“The details sound…familiar. A lot like something that happened a long time ago.” Bozer replies.

“The details are identical.” Matty says. Mac is trying to figure out what they are talking about. And then it hits him.

“Identical to what?” Jack asks.

“The murders committed by the Zodiac killer.” Mac answers as he glances at Jack.

“Zodiac?” Riley asks with furrowed eyebrows. “Like the serial killer from the ‘60s? I thought they caught that guy.”

“No. Actually, he just disappeared.” Mac replies.

“This is a police sketch of the original Zodiac from 1969.” Matty says as a drawing of the Zodiac killer comes up on the screen.

“Fashion trends come and go, but creepy is forever.” Leanna says as she glances at the sketch.

“Well, this has got to be a copycat. His last murder was almost 50 years ago. He’d be in the 70s by now.” Mac says.

“Yeah, but the Zodiac just shot his victims. As long as the man can walk and squeeze a trigger…” Bozer is interrupted by Jack while Mac closes his eyes as he realizes that Bozer has a point.

“Alright, alright, so which is it? We’re looking for a 70 year old serial killer or some brand new kind of psycho here?” Jack asks.

“Either way, I’m on the next flight to San Francisco, and I’d like for you all to come with me. This isn’t an official Phoenix assignment, so I can’t make you go. But I’m asking for your help.” Matty says. Mac could never deny that. Matty got his ass out of many dangerous situations, even when he didn’t ask for help. When Matty needs his help, he would do anything in a heartbeat no matter how dangerous it is.

“Of course.” Mac replies.

“I’m in.” Riley says. Mac glances at her and they share a smile.

“Me, too.” Bozer adds.

“Count me in.” Leanna says. They all glance at Jack who hasn’t answered yet. But Mac knows what the answer will be.

“Whatever you need, Matty, you got it.” Jack says.

“Thank you.” Matty says with a nod. “Then you need to see what we’re facing.” Matty turns around to face the big screen. “SFPD won’t release this video to the public. They still remember the panic the Zodiac caused when he terrorized the city years ago.” Matty plays the video.

 _“This is Officer Janine Alvarez speaking. The time is 10:48 PM. I’m first on the scene of an apparent double homicide.”_ The officer in the video films Daniel’s body. His chest is bloody and his eyes are open wide. Riley closes her eyes as she saw the blood. _“First victim, male, Asian, late teens. Appears to be shot three times in the chest and once in the right arm…signs of a struggle.”_ Mac watches carefully to maybe spot a clue or something. Then on the video appears Vanessa laying on her stomach…not moving. She has four bullet wounds on her back. Jack looks at Matty who is looking at the ground rather than the video. And he understands why. _“Second victim female, Caucasian, late teens. Shot four times in the back, right hand’s covered in blood.”_

“She’s trying to crawl away.” Jack says. Mac sees that she is close to a car. And her right hand is covered in blood. _‘What if she wrote something on the car…with her blood?’_ Mac asks himself. He’s question is answered when the video shows the driver’s door.

“No. She’s trying to identify her killer.” Mac says as the logo of the Zodiac is drawn on the door.

“Copycat or not…we’re gonna catch him.” Matty says with a voice full of sadness and rage.

_PERSIDIO HEIGHTS, SAN FRANCISCO_

The flight to San Francisco wasn’t long. When they arrived, they all booked rooms at a hotel. Who knows how long they will stay there, but they are not leaving until they catch the Zodiac. Mac and Riley booked a room for themselves, so did Bozer and Leanna, Matty booked herself a room and Jack booked one for himself. They all settled in for a little bit, and then Matty took Mac and Jack to go to Vanessa’s house.

“Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Faraday were his first victims. David was the first boy Betty’s parents ever let take her out. One moment you’re on your first date, but the next…” Bozer trails off and shakes his head. Those two were too young… “David was shot once in the head…Betty got five bullets to the back. Both died instantly.” Bozer says quietly as he sits on the bed.

“That is really creepy.” Riley says as she sits down on a chair and takes out her laptop.

“Police only proved five murders were the work of the Zodiac. But in the letters he sent to San Francisco Chronicle, the Zodiac claimed he killed 37 people.” Bozer says. Riley closes her eyes. _‘Poor people…’_ They were practically kids. And this prick just gunned them down like they are nothing.

“I’ll give him this much…he knew how to dress the part. The hood, the glasses. Very creepy.” Leanna says as she looks at the sketches on Riley’s laptop.

“He was theatrical. The lead detective on the case believed he was inspired by movies. One of the first letters he sent quoted a line from the Most Dangerous Game, a 1932 movie about hunting people.” Bozer says.

“Well, see, that’s why I think this guy is a copycat. If he was the real guy, what about the creepy handwritten letters with the cipher at the bottom? That was the most famous part of the Zodiac.” Leanna says.

“Yeah, but back in ’68, the letters didn’t show up until months after the first murders.” Bozer says.

“Good thing we’re not in ’68 anymore.” Leanna says.

“I’m gonna run a search of the cameras in the area Vanessa and Daniel were killed, see if we can get a video of our copycat.” Riley says.

“Good idea.” Leanna says.

“That’s if he’s a copycat.” Bozer says.

“Come on, you really think a serial killer who’s gotten away with his crimes for more than 40 years is gonna suddenly start back up again?” Leanna asks.

“A life change could suppress the urge to kill for a period of time. The BTK and The Grim Sleeper stopped killing people for years. But then, eventually, the monster inside of them woke up again.” Bozer says.

“It creeps me out about how much you know about serial killers.” Riley says.

“He calls it…”

“Being prepared.” Bozer and Leanna say simultaneously.

“Yep.” Leanna adds.

“If you ever come face to face with one, your survival hinges on being able to get inside their head. You know, figuring out what drives them, and finding a way to use it against them. Otherwise, you’ll just end up another one of their statistics.” Bozer says. Leanna shakes her head and glances at Riley. She realizes that Riley is genuinely freaked out by Bozer’s words.

“Okay, this subject is over.” Leanna says. “Let’s do our jobs and catch this guy before he strikes again.” Riley turns around to her laptop and puts on her headphones. She turns puts the volume on max, trying to get rid of the scary thoughts in her head.

Mac, Jack and Matty arrive at Vanessa’s house. When they enter, Mac felt down. There were beautiful flowers everywhere, Mac smelling every scent of every flower. There was food on the tables, picture of Vanessa, and the house was full of people, everybody dressed in black, talking quietly to each other. The house is filled with sadness. Jack spots an old lady crying, being comforted by a lot of people. _‘Vanessa’s grandma…’_ Jack thinks.

Matty looks around, searching for Vanessa’s mother. But she doesn’t see her anywhere. So, she decides to ask for her whereabouts. She approaches a man and a woman. The woman spots her and gives her a sad smile. Matty shakes her hand and gives her a sad smile too.

“Hi. Can you tell me where Sarah is?” Matty asks quietly.

“Right through there.” The woman replies quietly as she points to a hallway.

“Thank you.” Matty says. She goes into the hallway and sees the opened doors. She turns around to Mac and Jack.

“Give me a moment.” Matty says.

“Of course.” Mac says quietly.

“Sure.” Jack adds quietly. As Matty opens the doors so she can go in the room, Mac and Jack spot a glimpse of Sarah sitting on a chair with a tissue in her hand. Matty closes the door behind her while looking down.

Jack sees a couple of pictures on the wall. He goes over to see a picture of Vanessa and her mom, with a smile that reaches their ears. Jack also spots a picture of Vanessa holding a trophy in front of a schoolboard. On the schoolboard there are some math equations, so that means she was pretty good at math. Jack smiles at that photo, but that smile drops when he hears a sob from the room Sarah and Matty were in. This family already lost a father, and now a daughter. She had a whole life ahead of her…and it was takes for no reason. Jack wasn’t going to leave before they catch this guy. He hears the doors open from his side and sees Matty.

“Mac, Jack.” Matty says. That’s a sign for them to follow her. They both enter the room and Mac closes the door behind them. “Sarah, these are the men I was telling you about. Angus MacGyver and Jack Dalton. They’re a part of my team.” Matty tells Sarah. Sarah glances at them.

“We’re so sorry.” Mac says quietly. His eyes sting as Sarah lets out a sob. He can’t imagine how Sarah feels. First, her husband dies and now her daughter. She is all alone. Jack sits down on a chair and faces Sarah.

“Ma’am, there’s…there’s no good way to ask the questions that need to be asked here.” Jack says quietly.

“Please….I want to help in any way I can. I want to catch this monster.” Sarah says. Jack gives her a sad smile and nods.

“Okay. Has Vanessa been in some kind of trouble recently?” Jack asks. Sarah shakes her head.

“No. If she was…she would’ve told me. She always tells me everything.” Sarah says with a shaky voice. “After Mark passed away, she changed a lot. Started working harder, studying a lot. She didn’t deserve this.” Sarah sobs. Matty puts her hand over hers.

“We know she didn’t. What about Dan? Or an old boyfriend?” Jack asks.

“Dan was an amazing boy. She always made her happy. She had no boyfriends before Mark died, and after he died, she met Dan. He was the reason she was so happy.” Sarah says. She starts crying again and Matty rubs her hand on her back.

“Sarah, we’re gonna find out who did this. I swear it!” Matty says. She looks at Mac and Jack who both nod. They are not leaving San Francisco until they catch this prick. Mac and Jack leave the room and enter Vanessa’s room. Mac looks around. The room is tidy, bed done nicely. Everything looks clean. He spots the trophy that Vanessa was holding in the picture they saw earlier. Vanessa also put up a lot of posters of celebrities on the walls. She had a lot of pictures on her shelves with her friends, pictures from prom. And she had a lot of pictures with Daniel.

“Man, I’ve known Matty for a long time and I’ve never…seen her like this.” Jack says quietly. Mac glances at him with a sad look. “We’ve had ups and downs back in the day, but this is the first time I’ve seen her this…vulnerable.” Jack spots a picture of a smiling Vanessa. “I wanna catch this guy.” Jack growls while looking at the picture.

“Me too.” Mac says as he approaches the window. “Right now, let’s just focus on finding…” Mac trails off as he sees something from the window.

“What do you see?” Jack asks as he approaches Mac.

“It’s not about what I see, it’s about what I don’t see.” Mac says as Jack looks out the window. “You see it?” Mac asks. Jack looks around and realizes that a big branch is broken, giving a clear view in Vanessa’s room from the opposite building.

“Hell yeah, I see it. Somebody cut that branch so they can have a clear line of sight into Vanessa’s room here.” Jack says.

“Let’s go there.” Mac says as he is already out of the room.

They arrive in front of the building. Mac slowly opens the door so they don’t make any noise. Jack takes out his gun and leads Mac up the stairs. There is a homeless man sleeping on the stairs, so this might be an abandoned building where homeless people live. It stinks, there is garbage everywhere, and there is piss on the walls. There is no power in this building, so the sun from the windows is their only light. They climb upstairs to find another man sleeping against the wall. They walk down the hall quietly to enter the room from where you can see Vanessa’s room. They go to the end of the hall and find the room.

The door is slightly open so they hide first. Then Jack slowly with his gun pushes the door open. When they enter the room, the smell of shit hit them like a car. Jack gags a bit and Mac winces. The room is a mess. There is clothes everywhere, bottles, a burnt couch and a lot of other stuff. Jack checks the kitchen as Mac makes his way towards the window. He sees Vanessa’s house and has a clear view of Vanessa’s room.

“This is it.” Mac says.

“Yeah?” He hears Jack asks.

“Yeah, take a look.” Mac replies. He turns around and sees Jack coming out of a hallway putting his gun away.

“Yep. Direct view from this spot right into Vanessa’s window.” Jack says.

“Definitely his perch.” Mac says as he looks inside the cup that was in front of him. The cup is filled with cigarettes. “Hmm. Taking his time here, too. There’s got to be, like, four packs of smokes in here.” Mac says as he shows the cigarettes to Jack.

“Well, he’s methodical. He picks his victims in advance, waits, watches, carefully plans his attack.” Jack says and then they hear the floor squeak. Mac glances at Jack.

“Did you clear the room?” Mac asks.

“Well, you told me to come to the window.” Jack replies.

“Next time clear the rooms before you blindly following my orders.” Mac says and Jack shushes him. He takes out his gun and goes to the hallway. They make it in front of the door and Jack with his foot smashes it open. That’s when a person runs into Jack. He pushes Jack into Mac and they both fall on the ground while the person is running out of the apartment. Jack gets up quickly and follows him.

“Hey!” Jack yells as the person goes out to the emergency stairs. Jack starts running after him. This guy is fast. Jack starts to skip some stairs so he can catch up, and that’s when he hears glass breaking. Glass starts raining down, so he looks up and sees Mac falling while holding onto a wire. Mac lands next to the guy and knocks him down to the ground.

“Whoa! What the hell?!” Jack asks as he arrives on the ground. Jack runs to Mac and helps him up. “That looked painful, man, you alright?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, not my uh…best landing.” Mac says. Mac kneels down and drags up the guy. “What were you doing in that apartment?!” Mac asks with an angry voice.

“Yeah, what’s up, man?” Jack grabs him by his shirt, and pushes his hard against the railing of the stairs. The guy screams in pain as he hits the railing hard with his back. “Start talking.” Jack says as he puts his arm on his chest and points the gun at him.

“Don’t hurt me. I live here, man. I live here. In this building. I-It’s warm and nobody bothers me.” The guy says with a shaky voice.

“Nobody bothers you, huh? While you’re up there being a weirdo, chain smoking, stalking co-eds?” Jack asks.

“What are you talking about?!” The guy asks. Jack drags the guy towards him, only to push him hard in the railing again, making the guy scream in pain.

“We know you killed the girl you’ve been watching, man!” Jack says. The guy’s eyes go wide as he glances at both of them.

“Kill?!” the guy shouts.

“You know what, I don’t even need this.” Jack puts his pistol away. “I’m just gonna beat the bricks off…” Jack is interrupted by the guy.

“No! No, no, no. I didn’t kill anybody, man. I’m not even stalking no one.” The guy says with fear in his voice. “It’s my first time in that unit.” He says as he points up to the apartment. “Look, I normally stay in the back stairwell, b-but the guy…”

“Guy? What guy? What does he look like, huh?” Jack interrupts him.

“I don’t know, man.” The guy replies sounding tired. Jack pushes him hard against the railing again.

“What does he look like?” Jack shouts.

“Normal! I don’t know!” The guy shouts back. “He’s not homeless, you know? We call him the smoking man. The dude’s old, though. Like scary old.”

“That’s good. How old?” Jack asks.

“Scary old. Yeah, you know how like, Clint Eastwood is like, he looks like he’d kick your ass?” The guy asks.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. How old?” Jack asks sounding annoyed.

“I don’t know, man. Later 60s? 70s?” The guy says.

“Okay, what else?” Jack asks.

“Um…he’s got great hair. Um…glasses. Dude walks around with, like, this big lumbering walk.” The guy says.

“Bozer said the Zodiac walked just like that.” Jack says as he glances at Mac.

“The Zodia…who?” The guy asks.

“Yeah, do me a favor: stop talking, unless it’s about the guy that you saw, okay?” Jack asks and the guy nods. Jack takes Mac a little further than the homeless guy. “Glasses, lumbering walk. And he is the right age.” Jack says. He can see that Mac is deep in his thoughts. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” Jack asks. Mac shakes his head and glances at him.

“If this is true, we might solve one of the greatest crime stories of all time.” Mac says.

“Hell of a way to go down in the history books.” Jack says and Mac nods.

“Let’s loop Matty in.” Mac says. Mac takes out his phone as he climbs up the stairs to go to the apartment.

“Move!” Jack growls at the homeless guy.

15 minutes later, Matty and the cops came by the apartment. Matty and an officer interrogated the homeless guy. As Jack comes out of the bedroom, looks like the officer and Matty finished interrogating the homeless guy, as an officer grabs him by the hand and takes him out of the apartment. Matty turns around and glances at Jack.

“Well, anything new out of him?” Jack asks. Matty shakes her head and sighs in frustration.

“No. He just repeated what he told you.” Matty says as she catches a glimpse of Mac looking at the floor by the window. “A big, grey-haired, white guy came here repeatedly for the last six weeks to smoke cigarettes and look out that window, but…unfortunately, it’s not enough to help us catch Vanessa’s killer.” Matty says.

“Well, the building was full of homeless people. You never know. Maybe one of them got a good look at him.” Jack says. “But, um, Matty…those descriptions…they…”

“I know, Jack. They match to the Zodiac killer.” Matty says. She then glances at Mac who is on his knees and hands, looking at the floor with the help of a magnifying glass from his SAK. “What’s he doing?” Matty asks. Jack turns around and chuckles.

“Well, I never really know. It’s part of his charm, I guess.” Jack says. Mac gets up and glances at them.

“Is SFPD’s forensics team here? I think I found something.” Mac says.

“No. They’ll be here in half an hour.” Matty replies.

“Then, can I make my own Electrostatic Dust Print Lifter?” Mac asks. Matty furrows her eyebrows and Jack laughs a bit. She turns around and glances at him.

“What are you laughing at?” Matty asks. Jack immediately stops laughing.

“Well, I don’t know.” He replies sounding like a baby.

“You don’t know what he’s talking about either.” Matty says as Jack takes a sit on the chair. She turns around and nods at Mac. Matty watches as Mac searches the garbage back. He takes out blue Mylar and a soda can and some electronic. As he is making the device, Matty glances at Jack, who only shrugs at her. “Okay, since it looks like you’re just playing with the trash, you mind telling us exactly what it is you’re doing?” Matty asks.

“Every step we take leaves a little bit of dust behind from all the places we’ve been before. It’s hard to see on a dirty floor, but with a little bit of Mylar and a static charge…” he squishes a newspaper and rubs it softly over the Mylar. When he’s done, he lifts the Mylar and on the other side there is a footprint out of dust. “You can see the killer’s footprint.” Mac says with a smile. Matty raises her eyebrows. She’ll lie if she says she isn’t shocked.

“Hah! The boy is a magician.” Jack says. He takes out his phone and takes a picture of the footprint. He dials Riley and quickly sends the photo to her. “Hey, Ri, I’m sending you a picture of boot print. We need to know everything you can tell us about it, alright?” Jack asks.

“Yep, on it.” Riley replies.

“Did you guys get anything from the cameras around the park?” Matty asks.

“No. The killer must’ve cased the area beforehand. He clearly knew how to avoid being recorded.” Leanna replies.

“But since the Zodiac mostly killed couples in parks, we’re also monitoring surveillance cameras from romantic spots all over the city. And there’s a lot.” Bozer says.

“Good. Maybe we can stop this guy before he strikes again.” Jack says.

“How’s it coming with the boot print, Riles?” Mac asks.

“I can tell you it’s a size ten and a half, but finding a match in the database is gonna take ours.” Riley says over the phone.

“Actually, I might be able to beat that time.” They hear Bozer say. Mac, Jack and Matty all share a confused glance and wait for Bozer. “Look, the print you sent matches a boot used by the US military in the 1960s. They were called Wing Walkers. And guess who else wore them besides the US military.” Bozer says.

“The original Zodiac.” Mac replies.

“Yep, and he wore size ten and a half, too. If the shoe fits…” Matty stops Bozer because she knows what he’s gonna say.

“Okay, let’s not start touting conspiracy theories as fact. Anybody could’ve worn a pair of those. Boots are mass-produced.” Matty says.

“Not these. Not anymore. They stopped making them over 20 years ago. Only place you can buy a pair now is a site like eBay.” Riley says.

“Riley, do you think you can…”

“Find a site selling them, hack in and see if anyone near here bought a pair recently?” Riley interrupts Mac. Now, they are finishing each other sentences to. Mac, Jack and Matty both smile. “I was doing that before I started this sentence.” Riley says and Jack snaps his fingers feeling a bit hyped.

“Okay, in the last four months, 11 pairs of Wing Walkers were bought in the US, and one pair was shipped to Russ Collins, who lives right here in San Francisco.” Riley says.

“Beautiful. Let’s go.” Jack says as he claps his hands.

_RUSS COLLINS’ RESIDENCE_

As Matty went to stay with Sarah, Mac and Jack went to Russ’s house. Well, they stayed in the car in front of the house. They were having a surveillance stakeout. Jack was watching the house, while Mac was twisting a paperclip. It is night time, and they arrived a couple of hours ago. They bought themselves two burgers, which they ate earlier. Now, both of them are not talking, enjoying the silence. Well…Mac is enjoying it. Not Jack. Jack glances at Mac twisting the paperclip and he winces.

“That’s starting to bug me.” Jack says. Mac glances at Jack and gives him a confused look.

“What?” Mac asks.

“You, twisting those paperclips, man. It’s stupid.” Jack says.

“You’re stupid. It’s relaxing.” Mac says as he goes back to twisting his paperclip. Then his phone buzzes. He picks it up and sees that it’s a message from Riley.

_“Ran a background check on Collins. No hits. Squeaky clean.”_

“Riley. She says she ran a full background check on Collins. No record, clean.” Mac says as he puts his phone down. He also puts the paperclip on the dash, which is a shape of the Zodiac’s sign.

“Clean, except for the fact that he special ordered the exact same pair of boots worn by a serial killer.” Jack says.

“Which is merely circumstantial. Even if we found the boots, and I was somehow able to…match them to the boot print that I found, it’s not enough to convict him at court.” Mac says. Jack wipes his eyes from frustration.

“Okay, what about Collins? How old is he?” Jack asks. Mac grabs Collins’ dossier that was on the dash and opens it.

“Born in 1949.” Mac says as he scratches his head. “So he was 20 when the killings started.” Mac says as he glances at Jack.

“Old enough to be the original.” Jack says. Mac closes his eyes and bumps his head on the headrest. “I don’t know, man. I think we’re looking pretty solid.” Jack says as Mac puts the dossier back on the dash.

“It’s the best lead we’ve got. Doesn’t mean his the Zodiac.” Mac says. Mac closes his eyes again and rests for a minute. He then feels something on his chest. He opens his eyes and sees Jack offering him a cigar. Mac smiles and takes it.

10 minutes have passed and nothing has happened…still. Mac and Jack are having a cigar chat right now, not thinking about the mission, just them having a good old conversation about the army days.

“And I knock on the door. That’s when a guy with a machine gun opened the door and I spot hostages inside. The guy took me inside pointing the gun at me. That’s when an explosion happened behind me and I heard my team. So I attack the guy, get the gun from him and shoot him. All the enemies were down and Worthy comes in out of breath, saying that there were more coming. We get out and meet with the enemies. We shoot our way back to the truck. As we’re all in the truck, Worthy yells out “Grenade!!” When I saw him he was throwing something out of the truck, and an explosion happens. Worthy is the only reason I’m alive right now.” Jack says as he takes a puff of his cigar.

“Do you guys go out together?” Mac asks as he rolls his cigars between his fingers.

“Haven’t seen each other since then.” Jack replies quietly. Mac glances at Jack who was looking down at his cigar. Mac takes a few puffs of his cigars and says quietly,

“What a dark day.”

“Yeah.” Jack sighs as he faces the open window and blows out a mouthful of smoke. “You know…I was thinking about asking Diane to marry me before Matty came to me and offered me a job at Phoenix.” Mac’s eyebrows shot up.

“Really?” Mac asks.

“I mean, I am still thinking about it. But now…fear is included.” Jack says. Mac knows exactly what he means. “Let’s say she says yes and we get married. What if an enemy of ours comes after her? It’ll be because of me.” Mac takes a few puffs.

“I know what you mean, man. The same thing happened with Murdoc.” Mac says.

“Ugh. Still wanna go to that blacksite to beat him to death.” Jack says and Mac chuckles. “Plus, those Organization pricks are still out there somewhere.” Jack says and takes a few puffs. _‘Oh yeah…’_ Mac almost forgot about them. They haven’t caused any problems since we stopped the virus and caught Nikki. Mac knows they are just waiting for the perfect time to attack, but they don’t know that the Phoenix is always ready for them. There has been this feeling in Mac though since he got that letter.

“Do you ever had a feeling…that something bad is gonna happen in the future?” Mac asks. Jack glances at him and gives him a confused look.

“Where is this coming from?” Jack asks. Mac faces the open window and blows out smoke from his mouth.

“That letter that said _“Soon.”_ Is giving me bad vibes still.” Mac says. “It sucks we can’t find out who put it on my doormat.” That’s when they heard knocking on the car. It startles them both as they glance at a man next to the window holding an envelope.

“Delivery.” The man says.

“Delivery?” Jack asks and points his gun towards the man. “We’re in a parked car here dude.” Jack says. The man’s eyes go wide when he saw the gun and immediately putted his hands up. Mac and Jack both drop the cigars on the tarmac so they can go out by themselves. “Back up.” Jack says as he opens the door and gets out of the car. Mac does the same.

“You looking to get shot tonight, huh?” Jack asks. “Get around the front of the car.” Jack orders the man as Mac grabs the envelope from his hands. He glances at the paper and reads,

“‘The two men in the Sedan.’ Who gave you this?” Mac asks the man.

“Some guy down the street offered me a hundred bucks to walk this to your car.” The man says looking scared as hell as Mac glances down the street to see if the man is still there.

“Some guy? What he look like?” Jack asks.

“Just some guy. He had on a hat and sunglasses.” The man replies.

“Sunglasses at night. You didn’t think that was a little bit weird?” Jack asks.

“I don’t know, man. Could you please just put the gun away now…” the man trails off as he swallows hard.

“Don’t tell me what to do, boy. Sit your ass down.” Jack says. The man sits down on the edge of the sidewalk. Jack hears Mac open the hood of the car.

“If the killer did give him this, everything down to the glue that was used to seal the envelope is evidence. I’m gonna try and preserve as much as I can. Mac takes a bottle of water from the car, and pours the water over the hot engine, which creates steam. He puts the envelope above the steam. He shakes the envelope above the steam and the envelope opens. He grabs the paper that’s in the envelope by its corner.

“This is the Zodiac speaking to the two men in the parked Sedan. You may be watching me, but just know that I am watching you.” Mac then looks at the bottom right corner of the paper. “Me-39, you-0.” Mac glances at Jack before he looks down the street again. It was night so he couldn’t really see anything. He feels Jack shift in his spot next to him.

“Okay, I’m gonna go ahead and say it…I’m starting to get freaked out here.” Jack says as he glances at Mac.

“Yeah, you’re not the only one.” Mac replies. He takes a quick look to the envelope again and looks at Jack. “Call Matty and tell her to get here with the police.” Jack doesn’t waste a second and dials Matty.

“Jack?”

“Hey, Matty, come at Collins’ house with the cops. Something weird is going on.” Jack says.

“What’s going on?” Matty asks.

“Just, come here and you’ll see.” Jack says and hangs up. Mac glances at the man who is sitting on the edge of sidewalk.

“Look man, if you know something tells. The guy that gave you this envelope is a serial killer.” Mac says.

“I swear, I told you everything. I wouldn’t hide anything. I don’t want a serial killer on these streets.” The man says. Mac sighs and throws the envelope in the car.

Half an hour later, Matty arrives with the police. Nobody has gone in or out of Collins’ house. Mac gives the letter to Matty and she reads it. When she’s done reading, she glances at Mac and Jack with anger in her eyes.

“Let’s go in.” Matty says. Jack nods as he takes out his gun. The officers follow him to the front door of the house. Some officers when to the backyard just in case. Jack turns around with his back facing the door. He nods to the officers and he kicks the door open. Jack clears the entrance and goes in the living room. Mac goes in after him and turns on the lights.

“Alright, fan out. Clear the place.” Jack tells the officers. Mac looks around and is kind of shocked with what he sees. Everything is so clean. It’s like nothing has been touched in here before.

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.” Mac says to Jack. Mac catches a glimpse of Matty entering the room where they place the man who gave Mac and Jack the envelope. _‘I feel bad for him…’_ Mac says to himself. After the officers cleared every room, Mac started looking around for some clues. But this whole house…it doesn’t make sense. Collins’ has been living here for years, and it’s like everything hasn’t been touched in decades. _‘This is not right…’_

Minutes later he sees Jack talking to an officer, and then Matty appears from the corner. Mac and Jack both see her and they walk over to her.

“Had a chat with your delivery guy.” Matty says.

“And?” Mac asks.

“His story checks out…no priors. As much as I was hoping he was our big break, I’m thinking the only thing he’s guilty of is wanting to make a quick hundred bucks.” Matty says. Mac wipes his face in frustration.

“Well, did he at least give you a better description of our suspect?” Jack asks.

“Along with the hat and sunglasses, he was also wearing a hoodie. He was tall, but Ronald didn’t know how old he was.” Matty answers. _‘So the delivery guy’s name is Ronald.’_ Mac closes his eyes.

“Well, that helps a lot.” Jack says sarcastically.

“Please tell me you found something here, because I am not going back to Sarah to tell her that we have no idea who murdered her daughter.” Matty says.

“Matty, I wish we had more, but we were expecting Seven and we got Leave it to Beaver.” Mac says. Matty sighs in frustration and looks down.

“Okay. Let SFPD handle the house. Let’s regroup and figure out our next move.” Matty says. Matty starts walking towards the door and Mac follows her. But Mac stops when he doesn’t hear footsteps behind him. He turns around and sees Jack holding up one finger frozen in place.

“Jack?” Mac calls him and Jack glances at him with raised eyebrows. “You okay, buddy?”

“You know how you get that faraway look in your eye when wheels are turning in your head?” Jack asks as he looks around the house.

“No, not really.” Mac replies sounding confused.

“Well, you do it all the time and I’m getting it.” Jack says.

“You think you’re thinking, Jack?” Matty asks and Mac snorts. Jack glances at them and wipes his face.

“Yeah. Yeah, go with me on this one. It’s gonna sound like a board game question, but what is it about a serial killer that makes ‘em so hard to find?” Jack asks them. Matty gives him a confused look while Mac’s wheels are turning inside his head.

“They look perfectly normal on the outside because they’re trying to cover up what’s happening on the inside.” Mac answers and understands what Jack is trying to say.

“Exactly. This place is Leave it to Beaver…dish towels folded perfectly on the sink.” Jack points to the couch in the living room. “The couch…cushions look like they ain’t never even been sat on, man.” Jack spots a picture in a frame on the table. He has the exact same picture at his apartment. “Look. Look. That’s the stock photo that came with the frame.” Jack says.

“How do you know?” Mac asks.

“Well, because I have this one.” Jack replies as he sets the photo back on the table. “It’s all too perfect. Like it’s been staged.”

“Like something horrible may be lying just beneath the surface.” Matty says. She is now getting Jack too. Jack sees Mac looking around them, so he knows that the kid has some kind of idea.

Mac quickly takes the Wi-Fi router and goes into the kitchen. He searches for tinfoil and finds some. He cuts a piece of it and puts it at the back off the router. He then opens the router so he can see all the wires and chips. He also spots a small radio next to him. _‘Perfect.'_ He says to himself. He takes the radio and takes out the speaker. He places the speaker on the on the router. He finds a very long cable and connects it to the socket in the kitchen. He starts walking next to the walls with the router in front of him.

“Wi-Fi signals are just radio waves. And the cool thing about radio waves is that they can travel through walls.” Mac says as the router is making noise. “Now with…a dish to focus the waves and a speaker to turn reflections that bounce back into sound, we can…”

“You can see through the walls.” Matty says in amazement.

“Yeah, or hear through them really.” Mac says as the router makes a loud noise. They are in a room and Mac is facing bookshelves. “There is a large open space behind this.” Mac says as he puts the router down. They start moving books, look for buttons, move objects, anything that can move this bookshelf. Mac is impressed with the books. He has read most of them and they are pretty good. As Mac searches the top shelf, the whole bookshelf starts moving to the left. He looks down at Matty to see that she has a book in her hand. That must’ve been the key.

“Good eye.” Mac says. Mac glances at the entrance and he can’t see anything because it’s too dark. Jack takes out his gun and also takes out his flashlight. He slowly and quietly starts going down the stairs. At the end of the stairs, Jack with the help of his flashlight, sees a lot of boxes, old chairs and at the end of the room he sees a desk. He finds the light switch and turns on the lights. Now they can see what’s on the walls. Pictures of teenagers, old newspapers, the Zodiac killer’s sign.

“Well…I think we found our guy.” Mac says. Jack nods as Matty takes a closer look at the pictures and newspapers.

“1968, ’69. These are the original San Francisco Chronicle articles on the Zodiac murders.” Matty says.

“So either this is a shrine to the original Zodiac or this guy is the original.” Jack says.

“These photos clearly aren’t vintage. They’ve been printed off of a computer and they’re recently taken.” Mac says as he lifts up a photo of two teenagers. Jack looks at all of the photos. These young teenagers are now dead for no reason. They had so much more of their lives to explore…and it was just taken away in a second. As he looks at the photos, he spots Vanessa and Daniel, walking together.

“Son of a bitch. He’s been scouting his victims.” Jack whispers.

“Like he did with Vanessa.” Matty says with a shaky voice as she stares at photo of Vanessa walking into her house. “He’s been watching her for weeks. She’s had no idea.” By the sound of her voice she is ready to let the tears drop. Mac puts his hand on her shoulder.

“Matty, if you wanna go outside…”

“No.” Matty interrupts Mac. “No, the key to catching this bastard is in this room and we need to find it!” Matty says as an officer joins them. Matty walks over to the other side of the table to look at some more newspapers. Mac walks over to the center of the desks and sees something beneath some dossiers.

“Is that a laptop?” Jack asks.

“Yeah.” Mac replies as he moves the dossiers. Mac check for traps before he opens the laptop just in case. When he sees that it’s clear, he slowly opens the laptop.

“Do we need to get Riley in here on this thing?” Jack asks. The screen stays black for a few seconds before it turns on, multiple opened windows appearing on the screen.

“No need. It’s not even password protected. I don’t think this guy ever expected somebody to find this place.” Mac says. He sighs as he looks at the windows on the screen. “Okay…it looks like e-mails. A lot of them.”

“What do they say?” Matty asks.

“I wish I knew. This is the code the original Zodiac used, I believe. According to Bozer, some of these were deciphered, but others not even the NSA or CIA could crack.” Mac replies.

“And neither organization had themselves a Riley. Let’s utilizer her.” Jack says. Riley has proven herself that she is the best hacker that has worked for the Phoenix multiple times. Jack is confident Riley can decipher these codes.

“We need to get a disk image from this laptop to her ASAP.” Matty says and Mac and Jack nod in agreement. “I’m calling forensics.” Matty takes out her phone and leaves them.

“So out Zodiac…copies the original down to the smallest detail…even wears antique boots. But now he’s sending e-mails over a laptop? Am I missing something here?” Jack asks. Every single time they find a clue, a lead for them to catch the killer, something confuses them and that’s not good. This guy can strike again while they are trying to figure what’s going on.

“I think the real question is…who is he corresponding with? And why?” Mac asks. Jack exhales in frustrations and wipes his face. Mac’s phone starts ringing. He takes it out of his pocket and sees that it’s Bozer.

“Hey, buddy, what do you got?” Mac asks.

“Right now? A serious case of the heebie-jeebies. Matty had me and Leanna take the letter you guys got from the SFPD evidence room and compare it to the letters of the original Zodiac. Officer Reyes hooked me up with a handwriting expert. Now…he’s still running tests, but he took one look at your letter and said it’s definitely a match to the original Zodiac.” Bozer says.

“Come on, man…” Jack sighs in frustration. “I feel like my mind is about to burst.” Jack says.

“I feel you, Jack.” Leanna adds. “We’re gonna head back to the hotel where Riley is. We’ll call you from there.”

“Copy that.” Mac says and he hangs up as Matty joins them.

“Who was that?” Matty asks.

“Bozer. He said the handwriting expert officer Reyes hooked him up with is saying that…it’s a match to the original Zodiac.” Jack says.

 _“All units, reports of multiple shots fired at 220 9th Avenue.”_ A female voice comes over the officer’s radio. He doesn’t waste a second and sprints up the stairs.

“That’s Sarah’s house…” Matty says in a voice full with fear. Mac and Jack glance at her with wide eyes.

“Let’s go!” Jack says as he sprints up the stairs.

Jack slams on the breaks as hard as he can as he comes to a stop in front of Sarah’s house. The street is filled with police cars and an ambulance. _‘Oh no…’_ Matty is already out of the car and climbing the stairs to the entrance of Sarah’s house. Police men and women were in the house staring at something. Matty gulps as she doesn’t have a good feeling. As she enters the house, she sees what they are staring at. Sarah was on the ground with a huge knife that was stabbed right through her heart, and Sarah’s mom lying next to her with a couple of bullet wounds on her back.

Matty covers her mouth with her hand and she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she knew exactly who it was. She turns around and sobs in Jack’s shoulder, while he was gently rubbing her back. Jack’s eyes are watery too. After seeing Sarah mourn for her daughter, and now this…

Mac spots something on the wall. It’s the Zodiac’s sign drawn with blood. Mac goes outside cause he couldn’t hear Matty cry. He has never seen Matty like this, and there is this pain deep inside him. He can’t imagine how Matty is feeling. He grabs his hair and pulls from anger. It is painful, but Mac doesn’t care. He looks around and sees people staring at the house, Sarah’s neighbors. Maybe somebody saw something. So, he starts asking. He asks the first three people that are the closest, but nobody saw anything. He approaches a female who is staring at the house, and she is alone.

“Excuse me, miss, did you see anything?” Mac asks and the woman nods.

“As I heard the shooting, I took a peek from my window. There was this man wearing a hat…with sunglasses…getting out of the house and getting in his car.” The woman replies with a shaky voice.

“Okay…anything else?” Mac asks.

“Um…I saw a person in the backseat of the car. I think it was a girl…she wasn’t moving.” The woman answers. _‘Another person?’_ This killer is toying with them. Every single minute of the day. Who knows where he is now. And what’s he doing with that person.

“Thank you.” Mac says. Mac gets back into the house. Jack is still hugging Matty and it looks like she has calmed down a bit. They are putting Sarah’s and Sarah’s mother’s bodies in body bags. “A woman says that the Zodiac took off in a car and he had another person who was not moving in the backseat.”

“So, he might be dead too.” Jack says. Mac kneels down in front of Matty.

“I’m so sorry, Matty.” Mac says quietly. Matty hugs him too, and Mac can feel his eyes get watery from Matty sobbing quietly in his shoulder. This guy has ruined her in 12 hours. They needed to find him fast.

“Miss Webber,” an officer calls. They glance at him. “I think you might want to see this.” The officer says. If the officer is calling for her, even though he clearly sees that she is in a lot of pain, then this must be serious. They follow the officer to the kitchen. The officer stops and looks at the wall. Mac, Jack and Matty also look at the wall and it says,

 _“I have your little angel.”_ It was written in blood. _‘Your little angel?’_ Mac asks himself. What is the killer talking about? Then it hits him. The woman outside said the Zodiac had a person in the backseat. She also said that it looked like a girl… _‘No…’_

Bozer and Leanna are sitting in the back of a taxi. They are going back to the hotel to Riley. Bozer links his hand with Leanna’s as she is looking at the city. A week ago, they came here to San Francisco and had the best time of their lives. Right now, they are in San Francisco and are probably living one of the darkest days of their lives. Leanna was singing and dancing last week at Rihanna’s concert, and right now she feels like she is in a horror movie. But, she is happy she is not alone. She has the love of her life next to her, like he has been since they met.

As Bozer pays the cab driver and Leanna gets out of the cab, her phone starts ringing. She brings it out from her pocket and sees that it’s Mac. When she answers the first thing she hears is Jack yell.

“Move, fool!!”

“Mac?” Leanna says.

“Leanna, where are you?!” Mac asks. Leanna clearly notices the fear in his voice.

“We just got out of the cab in front of the hotel. Why?” Leanna asks. But before Mac answers her, she hears Bozer.

“No, no, no, no.” Bozer starts sprinting towards the entrance to the hotel.

“Bozer!” Leanna shouts after him. She saw that he was looking at the trash bin. So when she glances at the trash bin, she notices a lot of smoked cigarettes on the ground. _‘Oh no…’_ As soon as she realizes, she starts sprinting after him.

“Leanna! What’s going on?!” Mac asks but she doesn’t answer. She is focusing on her running right now, giving her everything. When she arrives in the hotel room, she sees Bozer already searching everywhere.

“Riley! Riley!!” Bozer shouts as he looks in the bathroom. Then they both realize something on Riley’s laptop. An envelope.

“To those who seek me.” Bozer reads. Leanna gulps and brings her phone to hear ear.

“Guys…Riley’s gone. We think…the Zodiac has her.” Leanna says with a shaky voice.

“No!!!” Mac yells. Then Matty’s voice is on the phone.

“Leanna, we sent Riley some e-mails on her laptop. Get inside her laptop and try to decipher them till we get there.” Matty says.

“Got it.” Leanna says and hangs up.

Jack, Mac and Matty arrive at the hotel ten minutes later after the phone call with Leanna. As Leanna is trying to decipher the e-mails, the door blasts open as a raging Mac comes in the hotel room. Bozer and Leanna jump at the sound of door being furiously opened. Bozer got in front of Mac who was spiraling at told him to calm down.

“How can I relax?!” Mac shouts. “Look…a woman outside Sarah’s house saw the Zodiac leave with a person who was not moving. And she said the person looked like a female.” Mac says as he runs his hands through his hair. “It had to be Riley. She…she said she was not moving. What if…” Mac trails off as he buried his face in his hands.

“You need to calm down and stop letting your mind go in that direction, Mac. We are going to find him and she will be okay. She was unconscious.” Bozer says. But he didn’t know who was he convincing. Mac or himself. “And what was the Zodiac doing at Sarah’s house?” Bozer asks. He turns around to face Matty and Jack. When he sees Matty’s face, he already knows what happened.

“The Zodiac killed Sarah and her mother.” Matty replies trying hard not to let the tears fall.

“I’m so sorry, Matty.” Leanna says and Matty nods.

“Let’s focus on finding Riley. Did you decipher the e-mails?” Matty asks Leanna.

“Okay.” Leanna says as she stands up with the laptop and gets ready to talk. “I tried tracing the e-mails. But they’re single-use addresses routed though Tor. So, I moved on and tried to crack the cipher, but…it’s no joke. I think he changed encryption keys from one letter to the next. I was able to partially decode a few of the e-mails, but the rest are gonna take a while.”

“What did the e-mails that you could decode say?” Matty asks.

“It’s correspondence between our Zodiac and someone who was actually encouraging him.” Leanna replies.

“Encouraging him? Like…like what, ‘Atta boy, go serial kill’?” Jack asks.

“More like teaching him. Giving him the step-by-step on how to be a serial killer.” Leanna replies.

“The original Zodiac would never need anybody to teach him how to kill.” Jack says as Mac puts on some gloves and takes the envelope the Zodiac left.

“This is definitely a copycat. A copycat the someone else pushed over the edge. Can you find out who the killer and the correspondent are?” Matty asks Leanna.

“I’ll try my best.” Leanna says. Mac opens the envelope and takes out the letter.

“This is the Zodiac speaking. I know you found my special room, and I’m sure right know you think you are smarter than me, but you pigs have never been smarter.” Mac reads and glances at Bozer who was next him. “Here’s my ultimatum: stop coming after me, and in 24 hours I’ll release the little angel. But if you follow me, if you look for me, if you hunt for me, she’ll join the others.” Mac looks at the bottom right corner of the letter. “Me 40? You 0.” Mac reads. Jack takes a look and is now confused.

“40 question mark…what the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Jack asks.

“He’s saying if we don’t stop looking for him, Riley will be his 40th victim.” Bozer replies.

“He’s lying.” Mac says as he puts the letter down.

“Yeah. He’s not gonna let her go. We need to find Riley ourselves. He’s just trying to stall. Changing his behavior cause he knows we’re close.” Jack says.

“So how do we get even closer?” Bozer asks.

“She was searching something on the browser.” Leanna says as she opens the browser. “Properties all over the Bay Area.” She sets down the laptop so everyone can see.

“Must be at least 50 of them.” Matty says.

“All owned by the same person: Russ Orwell.” Mac adds.

“And who is Russ Orwell?” Jack asks.

“According to what Riley dug up, Russ Orwell is the actual owner of the house we found the secret room in. Collins was an alias…that’s why he came up clean.” Matty says. _‘Now it makes sence.’_ She says to herself.

“Looks like Orwell was a bit of a slumlord. He owned all of these properties.” Mac says as Bozer’s phone buzzes. “Nice work, Riles.” Mac says quietly.

“So, Orwell’s our guy?” Jack asks. Leanna clicks on a page of a newspaper.

“Not likely. He was killed 15 years ago. Bludgeoned to death.” Leanna replies.

“Guys,” they all face Bozer who is putting his phone back in his pocket, “handwriting expert just got back to me with the final results on the letter you guys got.” Bozer says as he glances at Mac and Jack.

“And?” Matty asks.

“It’s a 100% match.” Bozer says.

“Alright, wait, wait…so now we are hunting the original Zodiac?” Jack asks. Mac is getting anxious. This is taking too long. Riley is somewhere out there alone and scared.

“Actually, no. As people age, their handwriting changes…100% match means this isn’t handwriting at all. The ink on the letter came from an off the shelf computer toner…our killer scanned the original Zodiac letters and…”

“Made his own fond.” Mac finishes Bozer’s sentence. “Alright, can we focus on finding him and Riley now, please?” Mac says with anger in his voice.

“If he was using one of Orwell’s properties, maybe he’s using another one.” Matty says.

“There’s gotta be over 50 place there. Even if we get the SFPD’s help, by the time we search them all it’s gonna be too late.” Jack says.

“Well, we’re just gonna have to find the right one!” Mac says. “There’s gotta be a dozen properties here…all occupied.” Mac says as he circles an area of the map. “He would never take her there.” Mac says as he removes the properties in that area.

“Okay, and this group right here is in a high traffic area…he wouldn’t risk being spotted moving a hostage.” Matty says and Mac removes the properties from that area.

“Okay, so we’re looking for an unoccupied building.” Mac says. Jack closes his eyes and shakes his head. _‘This is taking way too long.’_ He says to himself. “Um…” Mac trails off and Jack already knows he’s onto something. “Bozer, didn’t you say the original Zodiac was a big fan of movies?” Mac asks.

“Yeah, why?” Bozer asks.

“Yeah, I think I know where he took her…Starview Way Cinema.” Mac says as he opens a property on the map. “Looks like an old abandoned movie theatre.” Mac stands up and quickly takes his gloves off. “Jack, let’s go.” Mac says as he walks out of the hotel room and Jack trails behind him.

Riley slowly opens her eyes. She immediately winces when she feels the pain in the back of her head. The last thing she remembers is her in front of her laptop with her headphones on. After that…nothing. She slowly looks up, but she can’t see anything cause there is a bag on her head. All she can see is lights faced towards her. She is sitting on a chair and she can feel her arms and legs tied up to it. She tries moving but it’s no use. She can feel the panic rising inside her. The memories of Murdoc kidnapping her are coming back. She starts breathing heavily and then someone starts moving her. That scares her and she screams in fear. The person stops moving her and then the bag is taken off. Her hair is on her face so she shakes her head so she can see where she is.

“Good, you’re awake.” Someone from behind her says as she can feel a hand on her cheek. She moves her head so the hand stops touching her. She doesn’t even want to turn around to see who the person is. So she looks forward and realizes that she is on a stage. In an abandoned theatre.

“You thought you could track me down?” The person says and she immediately knows who it is. “You thought you could find me?” Riley slowly turns around and sees the killer. “No one’s ever found me.” Riley’s eyes burn from the lights, so she looks down. “And now no one’s ever gonna find you.” The killer says from behind her and Riley gulps. Then a phone starts to ring. She realizes that it’s coming from the killer’s pocket. The killer starts making his way backstage as he reaches for his pocket. As Riley loses sight of him, she quickly starts twisting her arms and legs. But it’s no use. _‘Mac…I need you right now…’_

Mac and Jack arrive in front of the theatre in the rented Mustang. They quickly get out and sprint in the theatre. Then they quietly make their way to the movie theatre. They get in and see Riley on a chair on the stage. _‘Thank God she’s alive.’_ Mac and Jack can see that she is shaking a lot. As Mac is about to make his way to Riley, the killer comes out from the backstage. Jack quickly pushes Mac down and hide behind the seats.

“There’s no cover between us and the stage, man. If we make a move he will see us.” Jack whispers as he takes out his gun.

“We just have to make sure he is looking the other way.” Mac says as he spots some movie wheels. He makes his way over to them and Jack follows so he can help with whatever he is making. Meanwhile, the killer gets in front of Riley with a gun in his hand. Riley sees the gun and inhales a shaky breath.

“Look…you don’t have to do this.” Riley says with a shaky voice. “I don’t know who you are, I don’t know…I haven’t seen your face.” She’s practically trembling now. “You can let me go, and I won’t be able to tell anyone what you look like. Please, I…” Riley couldn’t finish as she received a hard backhand slap on the left cheek. The slap echoed through the movie theatre. Mac’s head turns quickly towards the stage. He can see the killer putting his glove back on while Riley is looking down shaking. He squeezes the bottle that it’s in his hand so hard. _‘I’m gonna bury that son of a bitch.’_ Mac says to himself. He quickly gets back to work. The faster he makes the bomb, the faster he can get to Riley.

Riley has tears streaming down her face now. The pain from the slap didn’t help. She quietly sobs as she looks up to see the killer standing in front of her. He approaches her and lifts his mask up while putting his face in front of her eyes.

“What about now, little angel? Now you’ve seen my face. So what could you possibly say that would keep me from sending you with the others?” the killer says. He slowly backs up and puts his mask on. He reloads his gun and points it towards Riley. Riley closes her eyes as the tears fall down. But then she opens them because the killer looks like he is hesitating. Then it hits her. The Zodiac never did this. He never killed someone in a movie theatre. And if he does kill her in the theatre, he won’t be a good copycat.

He hears the killer groan in frustration as he keeps moving his hand with the gun. Then an explosion happens behind him. That scares the shit out of Riley as the smoke is spreading everywhere. She closes her eyes and can hear footsteps running away from her on the left. She starts coughing as he hears a familiar voice shout after her.

“Riley!!” _‘Mac…’_ She opens her eyes and sees Mac and Jack running towards her. And she couldn’t be happier that she did. Mac jumps on the stage and kneels down in front of Riley. “Are you okay? Are you okay?” He asks and she nods with a smile on her face. Mac takes out his SAK and cuts the duct tape. He then hugs her tightly and so does she.

“How did you find me?” Riley asks.

“With the stuff on your laptop.” Mac replies.

“We need to find the asshole. Did you see where he went?” Jack asks. Riley didn’t see but she did hear. She points to her left. Mac kisses her when she received the slap and stands up.

“You two, wait here. I’m going after him.” Mac says.

“What?! Hell no!” Jack says and Mac expected that.

“Look, he’ll come through there…” Mac points to the entrance to the stage. “…he’ll come back here cause he’ll think we are both looking for him. So I need you here, okay?” Mac says. He doesn’t wait Jack to answer and runs after the killer. He so wants to catch him so he can receive more than a backhand slap. Mac makes the corner and sees a trapdoor on the floor. _‘Crap!’_ Looks like the killer won’t come back to the stage. Mac considers telling Jack, but there is no time. He jumps down and starts walking slowly. He enters a room where there are mannequins everywhere. When he comes out of the room, he spots the killer further away. He takes cover as the killer shoots at him. When the shooting stops, Mac starts running for him.

The killer took some stairs and Mac reads on the wall that it takes you to the stage. _‘Perfect!’_ But Mac can probably catch him even before they reach the stage because he is right on his tail. As the killer slows down to make the turn to the stage, Mac takes the opportunity and tackles him. He smacks him against the wall hard and they both fall down. Mac gets on top and starts punching the killer. He can hear Jack and Riley shouting at him to stop, but he doesn’t. Not after what he did to Riley.

“Mac, enough!!” Jack shouts as he puts the gun away. He approaches Mac and drags him away from the killer. Mac starts fighting back and Jack uses all of his strength to keep him still. “Hey!! I said enough!!” Jack yells as he pushes Mac away. Mac glances at him with fire in his eyes. He comes back to his senses and raises his hands up, telling Jack that he is calm. Riley runs to him and hugs him. He takes a good look at her face now and sees that her lip is cut a little.

Jack takes off the mask of the killer to reveal a familiar, and now bloody face. “The homeless guy. What the hell?” Jack asks. The same guy that they found in the apartment in the building that was opposite to Vanessa’s house. “Didn’t we just send this bum over to the SFPD?” Mac looks at Jack and shrugs.

“I guess they let him go.” Mac says.

“I’m sure that won’t happen again.” Riley says. Mac hugs her tightly now to make sure that she is here. That she is safe. _‘Riley’s safe.’_ He keeps repeating that in his mind.

As Mac and Jack are explaining everything to an officer, Bozer, Leanna and Matty storm in the theatre. They see Riley getting her lip treated by a medic.

“Riley.” Leanna calls her. She turns around as the medic finishes and hugs Leanna tight. “So glad you’re safe.” Then Bozer hugs Riley and so does Matty. They see the killer being taken by officers in handcuffs. All of them saw the look he gave Riley that sent shivers through her body.

“Meet Russ Orwell’s son, Wyatt.” Matty says as she shows a picture of a young Wyatt and his dad. Mac and Jack join them. “After his father was killed, Wyatt was wanted for questioning, but the cops never could find him. Looks like he’s been living off the grid for years, using his father’s money and properties to hide.” Mac sighs in frustration.

“I can’t believe we had him the whole time and didn’t even realize it.” Mac says.

“And sent us on that wild goose chase looking for the Zodiac.” Jack says.

“What about the person who was on the phone with Wyatt?” Riley says. When the cops arrived, they immediately started tracing the calls.

“We traced the calls to someone on the island of Oahu, a Dr. Madison Grey.” Matty says.

“I got an old buddy in Hawaii. He’s on some task force out there. I’ll give him a call.” Jack says as he takes his phone out of his pocket.

“Hold on, Jack.” Matty says as he puts her hand on his phone. Jack stops and glances at her. Matty faces everyone and exhales a shaky breath. “I just wanted…to say thank you. Thank you for risking your lives to help me. The people in this city now can live in peace, knowing that the killer has been caught.” Matty says. _‘But we caught him too late…’_ she says to herself. Tears start flowing down her face now. She starts sobbing quietly knowing that Vanessa and Sarah are gone. Jack kneels down and hugs her, letting her sob in his shoulder.

They are on a plane now, heading back to LA. Mac has Riley in his hands, holding her tight cause he think if he lets her go, she will disappear. He knows it’s ridiculous but right now all he wants to do is hold her. He lets out a shaky breath and Riley lifts her head up.

“You okay?” She asks softly. Mac smiles at her and kisses her on the lips carefully avoiding the cut.

“With you in my arms, I couldn’t be happier.” Mac says with a smile. Riley smiles and buries her face in his neck, leaving a soft kiss. Mac closes his eyes and enjoys the moment. It’s been a really, really dark day. But, there is only one light that could make Mac’s day brighter: _Riley Davis._ He’s really glad that he told her how he felt. _If you love someone, you tell them. Even if you’re scared that it’ll burn your life to the ground. You say it and you say it loud._

Mac and Riley make their way towards Mac’s house. After the day they had, sleep could really be helpful now. Mac spots something white on his doormat. He stops and so does Riley. They both look at each other with a confused look.

“Stay here.” Mac says to Riley and she nods. He slowly makes his way towards the doormat. He doesn’t see any traps, so he picks up the piece of paper. He opens it and it just says one word. _Soon._ He got one 2 weeks ago. Riley makes her way over to Mac and sees the word. She remembers Mac asking if anybody dropped a piece of paper.

“Let me check the house first.” Mac says.

“Okay.” Riley replies. Mac opens the door quietly and goes inside. After checking every single room, he shouts “It’s clear!” to Riley. Riley finds him in the living room staring at the piece of paper.

“What does it mean?” Riley asks. Mac glances at her and shakes his head.

“I have no idea…and I have a bad feeling about it.” Mac says. It has happened twice now. Same word, same spot. Again after a mission.

“What the hell is going on?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed it, leave a kudos and a comment if you want <3


	14. Hook

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, but I'm back. It's gonna be hard with college to write the chapters but i will give it my all. Only a few chapters left of season 1. If you liked it, leave a comment and a kudos :)

_SOMEWHERE IN URUGUAY_

It was one of those sucky days today. The mission was simple. Put a USB in a laptop that belongs to a mob boss, and let Riley do her thing from the Phoenix. And everything went well. Until they were made and were being chased through the forest. They got away, only to not realize that there is quicksand in front of them. Now they are stuck, in the middle of nowhere, with no comms. Mac looks pissed while Jack looks around them to realize there is nothing to help them get out of here.

“I had a dream about this once. You know what happened?” Jack asks.

“You died?” Mac asks sounding frustrated.

“How did you guess?” Jack asks as he swallows feeling his throat drying and begging for water.

“Cause you die in all of your dreams.” Mac answers calmly but still sounding pissed.

“Oh.” Jack sighs and starts moving under the quicksand. “Hey, are you sure this is quicksand?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is still quicksand.” Mac answers as he gives Jack an annoyed look.

“Okay, all right. There’s no reason to get spicy about it. I’m just asking.” Jack replies as he stops moving. He looks around again and back at Mac. “Drowning in quicksand…this ain’t gonna be fun, bro. This has got to be one of the worst ways to die.” Jack chokes out.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that most people don’t even die from drowning in quicksand. It’s a colloid hydrogel. It’s made of sand, clay and water.” Mac says and shakes his head as a fly keeps flying around his ear.

“Oh, I was wrong. Drowning in quicksand while getting a science lecture…that’s the worst way to die.” Jack says.

“You’re not listening.” Mac says.

“I’m listening.” Jack replies not looking at him. Right now, all Jack can think about was Riley and Diane. How yesterday might be the last time he saw them, spent time with them. Mac’s voice gets Jack out of his thoughts.

“Most people don’t die from drowning. They die of, like, sun exposure, dehydration or you know…starvation.” Mac says as a fly lands on his ear and he shakes his head. “Or if…if we’re really unlucky, the pressure can cause deep vein thrombosis.”

“Okay, that’s enough, that’s enough.” Jack says.

“Which can lead to embolization.” Mac sighs.

“Okay. Stop. That’s enough, I get it.” Jack says.

“I just…don’t want that.” Mac says with some panic in his voice.

“Thank you, Doctor.” Jack says sarcastically. They sit in silence for a bit and all they can hear are bugs, flies buzzing around them. “Can’t…can’t you just use that big stupid head of yours and make, like uh…grappling hook or a helicopter or a blender?” Jack asks. Mac just glances at him. “I’ll have margaritas right now.” Jack says with raised eyebrows. “Just…just get us out of this.” Jack sees Mac furrow his eyebrows and then wince as a fly nearly gets into his eye. “We need one of your brilliant ideas.”

“I think…yeah. I got one.” Mac says and Jack grins. That’s the greatest thing he needed to hear. He starts laughing. “I got one.” Mac says with a smile.

“Oh, you got it. Do it.” Jack says with a happy voice.

“HEEEEEEEELP!!!” Mac screams angrily. Jack smile falls quickly as he realized what Mac’s plan is.

“That’s-that’s your solution?” Jack asks. Mac slowly turns his head towards Jack and gives him an angry look.

“You have a better idea?” Mac asks.

“You know I don’t.” Jack growls.

“HEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!” They both start to scream simultaneously.

When Matty realized that they’ve been gone for a while, she sent a search team to find them. After a long time the search team found them and got them about. They gave them food and water and they ate and drank a lot of water.

_MAC’S APARTMENT, COUPLE OF DAYS LATER_

Riley is trying her best to accomplish the dare that the guys gave her. Hang on the hanging bar for five minutes. She was nearly done, only a couple of seconds left. Her arms are weak, they hurt and her palms are sweating so much which makes her hands slip and she has to adjust herself every ten seconds.

“I don’t know how much longer I can…” she trails off as sweat is dripping from her forehead. She closes her eyes and breathes in and out. Then something hits her in the face and she hears a squeak. “Hey! That’s not fair.” She says as she sees Jack holding rubber duckies in his hands.

“I beg to differ.” Jack says with a smile. “The dare was to see if you could hang for five minutes. Nobody said anything about waterfowl bombardment.” Jack throws another rubber duckie and hits Riley in the stomach.

“Hey!” She laughs as Mac, Bozer, Leanna and Diane all laugh from behind Jack.

“And three, two, one. Time” Bozer says as the timer on his phone stops. Riley falls down and starts shaking her hands.

“Yes!” She says with a laugh as she sits next to Mac. “Well, I guess that means it’s my turn.” She glances at Jack who was taking a sip of his beer. “Alright, Jack, truth or dare?” Riley asks.

“Let’s go truth.” Jack says as he shrugs.

“What happened between you and Matty?” Mac, Riley, Bozer and Leanna all ask at the same time while Diane is smiling at them. Jack furrows his eyebrows as the beer bottle hovers over his lips. He looks at the rest of them with a confused look. _‘How the hell do they know that?’_ he asks himself. And then Mac speaks.

“In San Francisco, you told me that you and Matty had some ups and downs. And I saw how your face fell after you said that so I know something big happened between you too.” _‘Jesus, you can’t hide from this kid, can you?’_ Jack says to himself.

“And you told everyone?” Jack asks. He looks over to Diane to see her smiling. “I’m guessing he told you too.” Diane shrugs with a smile. Before Jack takes a sip of his beer he says, “I pick dare.” And he ignores everyone’s complaints.

“You can’t change, Jack!” Leanna says.

“Yeah, you picked truth. So answer the question!” Bozer says as he throws a rubber duckie at Jack.

“Have you guys seen how much hot sauce I can drink?” Jack asks. He doesn’t want to relive what happened with Matty cause it was a heated situation and he wants to forget about it. He sees that they won’t give up. “The past is the past. Matty and I are all good.” But that doesn’t stop them. So, he thought of an idea. He just hopes it works.

“Alright, you wanna know the real story?” Jack asks. They all nod and move closer to him. “When Matty and I met, I was going through a really rough time. My marriage was on the rocks.” That’s when Riley and Diane figure out that he is lying. Diane doesn’t know but Riley knows that this is a plot from Die Hard. She has watched that movie too many times because of Jack. The others apparently not. Riley holds up one finger to her mom so she doesn’t speak, cause she wants to see everyone’s reactions when they figure it out.

“What…you were married?” Bozer asks sounding shocked. Mac looks at his girlfriend who was acting like she didn’t know too.

“Not for long. Holly and I were separated. She was working in Los Angeles, and it was Christmas time.” Riley asks herself how have the others not figured it out yet. But, she sees Mac’s confused face. _‘Almost there’_ she says to herself with a smile. “You know, I wanted to go out there and see if I could patch things up. When I get there, terrorists seize the building where she worked.”

“Nakatomi Plaza.” Mac, Bozer and Leanna say simultaneously.

“That’s the plot of Die Hard.” Mac says sounding disappointed.

“Is it?” Jack asks. Bozer and Leanna pick up some rubber duckies and throw them at Jack. Riley leans backwards and places her head on Mac’s chest.

“Took you long enough.” Riley says with a smile. Mac laughs and places a kiss on the top of Riley’s head.

“Alright, Jack tell us already, bro.” Bozer says. Jack smiles falls and looks down while he squeezes the beer bottle he is holding. Mac realizes that.

“You won’t hide forever.” Leanna says with a smile.

“No.” Jack says with his voice raised a little. Leanna’s smile falls as Jack looks at them with an angry look. “I won’t tell you. So stop asking me. End of story.” He looks away from them and takes an angry sip of his beer. Mac notices that Jack looks broken. Whatever happened between him and Matty must’ve been serious. And he had a feeling it was Jack’s fault.

“Alright, well, guess that means you picked dare.” Riley says as Jack glances at her. “Drink up, McLane.” Riley says as he throws a bottle of hot sauce to Jack. Jack catches the bottle and opens it. He looks at everyone and raises the bottle.

“Cheers.” And that’s when Mac’s phone beeps with a message from Matty.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

As Matty is looking at the intel on the war room screen, she hears a rough voice behind her. “We got your message, boss.” She turns around and sees Jack with a bottle of milk in his hands with sweat on his forehead. “Sup?” he asks.

“What’s wrong with you, Jack?” Matty asks and Mac smiles.

“What?” Jack asks with a rough voice. Matty looks at the rest of them with a confused look. She then glances at Jack and nods towards the bottle of milk. “Oh, uh…I’m fine.” Jack says as he sits on the armchair. Matty shakes her head at him and turns around to face the screen.

“Let’s get to work.” Matty says. She brings up a picture of a man on the screen. “Meet Aaron Deckard. Works for an International Armenian crime syndicate as their fixer.” Matty says as Riley opens her laptop and puts it on the table. “His boss, Armin Morsofian…” a picture of another man pops up on the screen, “is believed to have killed at least 19 law enforcement officers around the world. But no one’s been able to prove it, because every time Morsofian drops a body, Deckard makes it disappear. Until now. Four days ago, Deckard was stopped in St. Louis for speeding. When police checked his trunk, they found three body bags, a shovel, and a whole lot of bleach.”

“To be fair, though, there’s like, 12 different things he could’ve been doing with that.” Mac says. Matty faces his and gives him the _‘seriously?’_ look. “Yeah, you’re right, though, he’s probably just burying bodies.” Mac says as he bites the inside of his cheek.

“Police questioned Deckard for hours, but the only thing they could hold him on was a possession of an unregistered firearm. So when Deckard made bail…”

“He made himself disappear.” Riley finishes for Matty.

“Yes.” Matty says with a smile. Riley keeps impressing her everyday.

“Yeah, I’ve had to deal with a couple of fixers in my day. They’re smart, slippery. Dude’s not gonna be that easy to catch.” Jack says as he takes a sip from the milk.

“Well, that’s why you get paid the big bucks, Jack.” Matty says.

“Medium bucks.” Jack replies quietly. “Where is this prick?” Jack asks. Matty turns towards the screen and opens a map of the US.

“Phoenix analysts have identified a string of stolen vehicles starting at St. Louis and heading south.” Matty says.

“So, dude’s like, Grand Theft Auto-ing his way to Mexico?” Bozer asks.

“Deckard’s got enough dirt on Morsofian to bring down his entire organization. But if he leaves the country, we may never see him or his intel on the Armenian syndicate again. Mac, Jack, go get me Deckard. Riley will assist you from the war room, Bozer, Leanna, you are free on this one. We’ll call you if we need you guys.” Matty says.

“Yes, ma’am.” Mac says as he and Jack leave the war room first.

_LOUISIANA, 30 MILES NORTH OF BATON ROUGE_

Mac and Jack made it to Louisiana. They rented a car and now they were off to get Deckard. In the car was quiet. Jack played his favorite CD of country songs while Mac was looking at the map for Deckard’s location. While he was doing that, he was also thinking about bringing back the “Matty” subject. Well, apologize really. He knows how Jack looks when he is broken and angry, and he was earlier when they were playing truth or dare.

Mac sighs. “Okay, we’re only a couple of miles from Deckard’s stolen car. In our current speed, I’d say we get there in about ten minutes.” Mac says.

“All right, good.” Jack says as he keeps his eyes on the road. Mac looks at Jack and thinks about how to start.

“Hey, um…about earlier, with what happened between you and Matty, you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to. I saw that it hit you hard so it must’ve been something serious, and I just wanted to say I’m sorry for pushing you like that.” Mac says softly. Jack glances at him and sees the honesty in Mac’s eyes. He smiles as he turns his eyes to face the road. Then an idea pops up in his head. _‘Let’s joke some more.’_

“Okay, you wanna know what happened?” Jack asks.

“Jack, you don’t have to.” Mac says.

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll tell you, I don’t care.” Jack says and Mac adjusts himself in the seat so he faces Jack. “We were undercover, on this offshore oil rig with this ragtag group of roughnecks. Everything was cool, too. Till the boys and girls from NASA showed up.” Jack says.

“And asked you to keep an asteroid from destroying the Earth?” Mac asks with an annoyed voice and Jack nods.

“That’s right. How’d you know?” Jack asks with a smile.

“That’s Armageddon, dude.” Mac sighs.

“Was it?” Jack asks.

“I’ve seen it three times cause you’ve made me watch every Bruce Willis movie three times” Mac says.

“And you’re a better man for it.” Jack replies. “Look, it was the worst moment of my career. And I just don’t want to relive it again.”

“All right, understood.” Mac says with a smile.

“Thanks, brother.” Jack says as he fist bumps Mac. That’s when a red truck flies right past them, nearly hitting Jack. “Dickhead!!” Jack shouts and hits the horn, but the truck is already gone. After a bit of silence Jack asks, “Hey, are you gonna put cameras on your front door? Forgot to ask.”

“Well, yeah. I’m gonna hide them and let’s hope the asshole that’s been leaving letters on my mat doesn’t see it. Can’t even sleep well at nights cause of that.” Mac says as he rubs his face with his hand.

“Hey, everybody makes mistakes. And he will make one. When he does, we’ll strike. Don’t worry, we’ll get him.” Jack says.

“Yeah, I hope so.” Mac says and then his phone beeps. He looks at the screen and sees that they are nearly at Deckard’s car. “Deckard’s car is only a half a mile away.” Mac says. And then they see it. It’s off the road, turned around. Mac spots the skid marks on the road. Looks like they weren’t the only ones after Deckard. Or maybe Deckard stole another car. Jack stops the car and Mac quickly gets out.

“Looks empty.” He says. They both walk towards the car and Mac points to the skid marks. “There’s two sets of skid marks. Think he ran somebody off the road to steal another car?” Mac asks.

“Maybe.” Jack replies. They arrive at the car and look inside. Nothing. Jack opens the passenger door and they both back away as their eyes hurt and sting. They start coughing as Mac spots a pepper spray on the seat. He quickly takes it and throws it away.

“Oh, it reminds me of that hot sauce, only in my eyes.” Jack says as he scratches his eyes. Mac walks over to the pepper spray that’s on the ground and takes a look at it.

“It’s military grade pepper spray.” Mac sighs as he walks back to Jack. “You know, Deckard did have a tone of open warrants. You think the police ran him off the road?” Mac asks.

“Police cars aren’t red.” Jack says as he points to the back of the car. Mac spots red paint on the car. “Somebody did a PIT maneuver on him, but it wasn’t the cops.” Mac starts analyzing.

“Judging by the impact height, though, I’d say we are looking for a truck. Four-by-four with a lift kid. Cherry red.” Mac says.

“Wait…didn’t a cherry red truck just flew past us earlier?” Jack asks. Then it hits Mac.

“Yeah…”

“All right, this doesn’t sound like the handiwork of a po-po. Sounds more like a bounty hunter to me.” Jack says and Mac thinks he might be right.

“Okay, let’s go. We might be able to catch him.” Mac says as he walks to the car and Jack follows him. After half an hour of breaking the speed limits, they spot the truck parked in front of a bar.

“There’s your red pickup, hoss.” Jack says as he parks the car next to the truck. Mac opens the door and gets out of the car.

“This has got to be it.” Mac says as he walks over to the truck and takes out his phone.

“Oh, yeah.” Jack says as he gets out of the car. Mac opens the camera on the phone and takes a picture of the truck’s plates.

“Want to see if Riley can use this to give us the name of that bounty hunter.” Mac says as he sends the photo to Riley. He then puts his phone back in his pocket and follows Jack inside the bar. They enter the bar and the smell of alcohol and cigarettes hits them. They look around and the bar isn’t that full. There’s posters on the wall, old people laughing loudly and drinking beer. Just and old fashioned bar.

“Yeah, well, maybe she can use it to tell us what the hell he’s doing in here. You know, most bounty hunters hightail it right to the nearest police station with their mark, they don’t stop and have a brewski.” Jack says as they walk to the bar counter. He spots a couple of pool tables in the distance with a couple of men playing. _‘Must be one of them.’_ Jack says to himself.

“Two cold ones, please.” Mac says to the bartender.

“You got it.” The bartender says. He goes over and brings them two cold beers and Mac gives him money. Jack grabs his and takes a sip quickly. Mac grabs his beer and faces Jack.

“I don’t know, maybe we got lucky and uh…our guy’s just not that bright.” Mac says and takes a sip of his beer.

“Yeah, maybe.” Jack replies. Jack takes a sip of his beer as a song that he knows and loves comes up. He starts singing it quietly with a smile. Mac is analyzing the men that are in the bar. He’s a secret agent so he knows how to read people and maybe he’ll find the bounty hunter based on his behavior.

“And bam!” someone loudly says that gets both Mac’s and Jack’s attention. They turn around and see a well built black man talking to his friends. “I ran him off the road, pepper-sprayed his ass, and hogtied him in the back of my truck.” Mac and Jack share a glance and a smile. “Soon as I turn him in, cha-ching, baby!” the man says happily and high fives one of his friends.

“He’s not exactly a needle in a haystack now, is he?” Jack says

“Okay, he’s here, but where’s Deckard?” Mac asks.

“I don’t know. But he seems chatty, so let’s go ask him.” Jack says. Jack begins walking towards the bounty hunter and Mac follows him. Mac takes some money out of his pocket as the bounty hunter receives the money he won from his friend.

“Can I get next?” Mac asks as he shows the money. The bounty hunter faces him and his smile falls. Mac wonders why.

“Good timing.” The bounty hunter says. “You rack.” He says as he puts some money on the table.

“So I thought I overheard you say you were a bounty hunter?” Jack asks with a smile as Mac puts the balls in the triangle rack.

“Bail recovery agent.” The bounty hunter replies and gets in position to take a shot.

“Wow. That’s…that’s badass.” Jack says sounding impressed. And he really is. He thinks being a “bail recovery agent” is cool.

“Very.” The bounty hunter says as he takes a pool shot. He smiles as he is satisfied with his shot, spreading the balls everywhere on the table and some go in the holes which means he gets a turn again.

“So this guy you caught…you have him all tied up? You’re not worried he’s gonna escape?” Mac asks. Jack sees the confusing look the bounty hunter gives Mac and he chuckles.

“What he’s saying is did they try to get away? Did they try to run from you?” Jack asks and the bounty hunter let’s out a laugh.

“Nah, man. Soon as I get ‘em, they don’t get free.” The bounty hunter says and he takes a shot. A ball doesn’t go in the hole which means it’s Mac’s turn now. He licks his lips from disappointment.

“Yeah, I would imagine losing a fugitive is a big no-no in your line of work.” Mac says and glances down at the pool.

Jack knows by now that the bounty hunter has figured them out. It was obvious cause of the questions they are asking. But they need to ask him and need to get Deckard. He looks at the pool table and sees Mac looking at a ball that’s in the corner of the table in front of the hole. He can’t shoot straight cause there is a ball blocking the way, so Jack wonders what is he thinking inside that brain. Then he sees Mac angle the cue stick to a sharp angle pointing down towards the white ball. He hits it and the ball starts spinning and circles around the ball that was blocking the way, hitting the ball that’s in front of the hole. The ball goes in the hole which means Mac gets a turn. He sees Mac’s smile from satisfaction.

“Well, why don’t y’all tell me. Since you’re obviously in the same line of work.” The bounty hunter says. Jack starts fake laughing and looks at Mac who did not look pretty happy.

“Now, what makes you say that?” Jack asks.

“Two strangers in plain wrap, straddling the speed limit on a road used by mostly locals. Yeah, I made y’all on Deckards tail a few miles back. Forced me to step up my timetable and dent my truck. So I thought, I’d stop off for a drink, draw you out. Take a good look at the competition.” The bounty hunter says and scoffs, pissing off Jack.

“Well, since everything is out in the open, why don’t you go ahead and do yourself a favor.” Jack says as he gets in the bounty hunter’s face. “Hand him over.”

“Well, I got a better idea.” The bounty hunter says as he doesn’t back away even a bit from Jack. “Why don’t the two of you back the hell off and let me deliver my skip.” He spits at Jack. Jack gives him a smile telling him that that is a no-no.

“That’s not gonna happen.” Jack says just to be more clear.

“Yeah. Odds aren’t in your favor. It’s two against one.” Mac says with a smile.

“Actually…” the bounty hunter puts the cue stick on the table and faces his friends, “it’s two against all of them.” He says. Mac and Jack turn around and see big four men line up in front of them. Mac glances at Jack who had a little fear in his eyes, and then looks back at the bounty hunter who has an evil smile on his face. He takes out two zip ties from his pockets. “When you’re done with ‘em boys, make sure they don’t go anywhere.” The bounty hunter says as he puts the zip ties on the table.

“Oh, you guys are…you guys are together.” Jack says with a scared smile. Mac bites the inside of his cheek knowing that the next few minutes aren’t going to be great.

“Amazing how many friends you can buy with a free round of drinks.” The bounty hunter says.

“Just one round? Well, what a cheapskate.” Jack says. He can’t stop looking at the big men until he feels the bounty hunter poking him on the shoulder.

“Oh. And watch out for Ned there. He’s a biter.” The bounty hunter says as he points to one of the men. Jack looks at the man who gives him an example on how he bites and Jack gulps. “All right, I’ll leave you boys to your fun.” The bounty hunter says and starts to leave.

As Jack keeps his eyes on the bounty hunter, someone grabs him from behind and he already knows what’s coming. As he gets turned around, he prepares his fist and gives a big left punch to one of the men. Mac grabs the cue stick from the table, and shields him from the punch that’s coming for him. The man broke the cue stick in half with the punch, and Mac with one piece of the stick, hits the man where it hurts the most. Jack gets tackled onto the table.

“Hey, Mac, I could use a little help here, man!!” Jack shouts as he elbows the man on his back.

“That’s what I’m doing.” Mac says as he gets an idea with what to do with the cue sticks. He gets a towel and ties it on the ends of each stick. He uses the zip ties to tighten the towel on the stick and he made a nunchaku. Jack gets pushed onto the table by Ned. Jack puts his hand below his chin as he sees Ned’s trying to bite him.

“Seriously?! I thought he was kidding!” Jack says.

“All yours. I got Deckard.” Mac says as he hands Jack the nunchaku. Mac starts running towards the exit as he hears Jack taking care of business behind him. Mac runs outside and sees the bounty hunter already dragging Deckard inside his truck. _‘Okay, think fast.’_ Mac says to himself. If he runs, he won’t catch him. So he has an idea. He spots a sticker on an SUV. He takes out his phone, takes off the sticker and wraps the sticker around his phone. He sees the truck is coming right for him, so he starts running towards it. The bounty hunter hits his horn and Mac slides on the ground for him to get under the truck. He successfully puts the phone at the bottom of the truck as it passes him, and he sees the bounty hunter drive off.

He sees Jack coming out of the bar, running towards Mac. “What are you doing?” Jack says as he looks at the bounty hunter driving off. “What are you doing?! I almost got my face chewed off, and you’re just standing around? Did you let him go?” Jack asks angrily as Mac gets up from the ground.

“Not exactly!” Mac says starting to get pissed cause Jack is getting angry without giving Mac a chance to explain. “Give me your phone.” Mac says as he extends his hand.

“No way, man. Everytime I hand you my phone, I end up at the Genius Bar, explaining to them why my phone’s glued to a football or wired to a vacuum cleaner. Use yours.” Jack says.

“I already did. I just need your phone to call Riley.” Mac says.

“Dude.” Jack growls as he takes out his phone and hands it to Mac. Mac finds Riley’s number and calls her.

“Hey, Riles, you still have a bead on my phone, right?” Mac asks.

“Yep, tracking it now. He is heading north” Riley says.

“Excellent, thanks.” Mac says.

“You guys okay?” Riley asks.

“Yep, we had some fun with some big dudes but everything is good.” Mac says.

“All right, be safe.” Riley says.

“Bye, love you.” Mac says as he hangs up. “He’s heading north.” Mac says to Jack as he starts walking towards the car.

“Give me my phone.” Jack growls. Mac turns around and places it on his chest. Jack grabs it quickly before it falls down. As Jack hits the throttle and starts driving north, his phone starts ringing. He takes it out and sees Matty’s picture. He looks at Mac knowing they are screwed and answers the phone.

“Dalton.” He just says.

“So let me get this straight. Two highly-trained government operatives got out-maneuvered by a local low-rent bounty hunter.” Matty says and Jack fake laughs.

“We like to think of it as a temporary setback.” Mac says.

“Think of it however you like, Mac. Bottom line: you two got punked.” Matty says as Riley runs the plates of the truck on her laptop. And it turns out that the license plate is not in the system in Louisiana.

“Okay, well thanks for the pep talk, Matty. That really helps. Did you get and ID on that bounty hunter yet?” Jack asks.

“His plates led nowhere. They’re fake.” Riley says.

“Hmm. So whoever this guy is, he’s smart.” Mac says.

“Not smarter than us.” Riley says and Mac smiles at the comment. “Mac, your quick and dirty tracker just stopped moving. I’m sending you GPS coordinates now.” Riley says. Mac takes the phone from Jack and looks at the coordinates.

“All right. Thanks, Riles.” Mac says and hangs up. “Hey, if this guy’s at another trucker bar…”

“Yeah, we’re buying everyone two rounds of drinks.” Jack says.

“Exactly.” Mac replies.

Mac and Jack spot the truck parked in front of a diner. Jack stops a little further from the diner and takes out his gun. They get out of the car and start approaching the diner.

“Déjà vu, man.” Jack says as they get closer to the truck. “We’ve seen this before.” He says as he reloads his gun. Mac shakes his head and sighs.

“You could’ve just said déjà vu.” Mac says.

“Yeah, exactly.” Jack says as he puts his gun away. “You know, it’s a little odd he would bring Deckard to a diner.”

“Who cares? As long as he’s here.” Mac says as he kneels down below the truck and gets his phone.

“I’ll get a picture of the VIN number.” Jack says and Mac nods. Jack takes out his phone and finds the VIN number. “It’s pretty easy to fake a plate, but not a VIN.” Jack says as he takes a photo of the number and sends it to Riley.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

Leanna came in the war room from the lab and decided to help Riley. She got bored helping Bozer with Sparky, so why not help her sister. Matty left the two in the war room, and moments later, Leanna’s tablet beeps. Leanna looks at the screen and sees the VIN number. She shows Riley the picture and Riley types it in the search bar of the database. She hits enter and now they both wait.

“All right, trace on the VIN number is up and running.” Riley says with a smile. She spots Leanna looking outside the war room and she joins her. She sees Matty talking to two agents. She and Leanna share a look and Leanna leans towards her. Riley looks at her with confusion as Leanna opens her mouth.

“Me and Bozer were talking downstairs about whatever happened between Matty and Jack. I did some sniffing around and found the CIA file of Jack and Matty’s last mission together.” Leanna says and Riley’s eyes go wide. “But it’s heavily encrypted. So we thought if you could…break in. I would do it…if I knew how.” Leanna says. Riley keeps her eyes on her as a million thoughts go through her head. This is illegal, she knows, and what if Matty catches them. She’ll be screwed.

“I don’t know, Leanna. I just started working here and I don’t want to get fired straight away.” Riley says quietly.

“But, I know you’ll make sure you won’t let that happen. C’mon Ri, don’t you wanna know what happened? I know you do.” Leanna says with a wink. “Plus, what’s 4,096 bit military grade encryption?” Leanna says and scoffs sarcastically. Riley looks at her with a “are you kidding me?!” look.

“That’s gonna take some time.” Riley says. She hated to do this, but she is really curious what happened between Matty and Jack. What happened that made Jack so broken and angry last night. “All right, fine. But I need somewhere to work cause I can’t here. And I need to borrow the Phoenix servers for a few hours, uninterrupted.” Riley says.

“All right, the lab is empty. It’s just me and Bozer.” Leanna says and Riley nods. “All right.” Leanna grins and smacks Riley on the shoulder playfully.

_AT THE DINER_

Mac opens the door of the diner and lets Jack in. He really has a bad feeling about this. “Hey, be ready, okay? This guy knows what we look like, so things could pop off in here pretty…” Jack trails off as he sees families and friends, eating and chatting happily, “…quick.” Jack finishes. He didn’t expect this one bit.

“Or not at all.” Mac says. Looks like he didn’t expect this too.

“Well, I told you the guy was slippery. You got to give him credit. Maybe he’s actually in the bathroom.” Jack says as he points towards the bathrooms. Well he couldn’t be anywhere else. This diner is small. There’s the eating area, the bathrooms and the kitchen. They doubt that the bounty hunter is in the kitchen since customers aren’t allowed there. So just as Mac started walking towards the bathroom, a woman comes in front of them.

“Hi. Welcome to Mama’s. Y’all take a seat anywhere you like. I’ll be right with ya.” The woman says as she takes a menu to give it to a customer.

“Sorry to bother you, ma’am, but we’re actually looking for a man.” Mac says.

“Well, so am I, sugar. So you gonna have to be a little more specific than that.” The woman replies with a happy smile.

“Well, actually, it’s two men.” Jack says with a smile. “One’s about six foot tall, he’s got these big old popcorn muscles, lot of attitude. Drives the cherry red pickup parked out front.” Jack says.

“He might be travelling with this man.” Mac says as she shows a photo of Deckard to the woman. The woman looks at the photo and shakes her head.

“Never seen the man in the picture, but the man driving that truck, he was sitting in that booth a little while ago.” The woman says as she points to the booth behind them. “Saw him get up and go to that bathroom in the back.” Jack taps Mac on his shoulder and starts walking towards the bathrooms. Mac sighs and glances at the woman.

“You might want to clear your place out, ma’am.” Mac says as he starts following Jack.

“Why? There gonna be any trouble? Cause Mama don’t like no trouble in her diner.” Mama says.

“No. Mama, we’re no fans of diner trouble. Just gonna have a little chat with the guy.” Jack says with a fake smile.

“Yeah, well…go on then.” Mama says quietly. Mac and Jack start walking towards the bathrooms. They have to cross the kitchen to get there. As Jack takes out his gun, Mac’s phone starts to ring. He takes it out and sees that it’s Riley. ‘Not a good timing, babe.’ Mac thinks.

“Hey, Riles, now isn’t really a good time.” Mac says.

“Yeah, it is, Mac, cause I got bad news. The bounty hunter’s VIN number just came back with an ID.” Riley says.

“Okay. How is that bad news?” Mac asks.

“Truck belongs to a Billy Colton.” Riley replies. That’s when they hear a loud bang from behind them. They turn around and see a teen girl and a man both pointing a pistol at them. Mac licks his lips in dissatisfaction as he realizes what’s going on. “Let me guess. Their address is right where we’re standing.” Mac says as Billy comes from behind the girl and man and also points his gun at them with the same evil smile he had when he left the bar earlier. Mac hangs up and brings his hands up. So does Jack. That’s when they hear a shotgun from behind them. They turn around to see Mama pointing a big ass gun at them.

“Welcome to the Colton Family Bail Bonds. Now, how can I help y’all today?” Mama asks with a death stare. Mac sighs and looks at Jack. _‘Oh boy…’_

The Coltons cleared out the diner and sat Mac and Jack on a table. Mama is in front of them, analyzing them, while the others are behind them.

“All right boys, rules are simple here. I don’t like no lying in my diner. So when I ask you something, you are gonna tell me the truth. You understand?” Mama asks with a stern voice.

“Yes, ma’am.” Mac and Jack say simultaneously. They see Mama kneel down and bring up a pie. She puts the pie on the table in front of them.

“My buttermilk pie.” Mama says. Jack looks at the pie and then looks at Mac, confusion taking over him. “I’ve been tweaking the recipe. Thinking about adding it to the menu, so I want you…” she kneels down and brings up a big knife. She hits the table with the wooden handle of the knife, which makes Jack jump a little, “…honest opinion.” Mama finishes.

Mac and Jack share a glance as they are both thinking the same thing. There’s probably something in that pie that could kill them. Poison maybe. Mac is pretty confident something is in that pie. Why would she offer some?

“Well, we’re not really hungry right now.” Mac says with a smile. That’s when he hears a voice chuckle in his ear. He looks over and sees the girl next to him.

“No one refuses Mama. Just eat the damn pie.” The girl says in Mac’s ear and she backs away. Mac closes his eyes and sighs. Mama takes out two plates and cuts two pieces of the pie.

“Y’all want to start by telling us who you are?” Mama asks as she places the pieces of the pie in front of them. Mac wipes his palms on his pants as he glances at Jack who was already taking a bite of the pie. Well, if he didn’t eat it, they would’ve forced them to eat it so, he doesn’t blame him. Now, they can’t tell them the truth about who they are, so Mac has an idea.

“Well, I’m MacGyver. This is Jack. We’re bail bondsmen just like you guys. We saw the bounty posted on Deckard, and figured it’d be easy money.” Mac says as Jack looks at Mama in amazement while still chewing.

“Are you kidding me?” Jack asks with a full mouth. “You know, this is the best damn thing that’s ever happened in my mouth.” Jack says as he looks at the pie on the plate. Mac glances at Mama to see her shaking her head at someone. He looks behind Jack to see Billy backing away.

“Thank you, dear.” Mama says with a fake smile. “You really ought to try it with a shot of my moonshine.”

“Oh, I’d love to.” Jack says as Mac looks around and is starting to get impatient.

“A little whipped cream?” Mama asks as she puts some whipped cream on Jack’s pie. As Mac glances at Jack’s plate, and sees that nothing is happening to him, so there is no poison, his mouth is starting to get watery. _‘Why not try some?’_ Mac says to himself.

“Yeah, I’ll try some of that.” Mac says. Then he feels and hears a loud bang. He jumps and glances up to see Mama with the knife on the table giving him a death stare.

“Now didn’t I just tell you not to lie to me, sugar? I know bounty hunters, and y’all ain’t no bounty hunters. Ex-military, maybe. And If I had to wager, I would say that you were Delta.” Mama says as she points the knife towards Jack who’s licking his fingers. _‘How the hell did she know that?’_ Jack asks himself. He looks at Mac in disbelief and then back at Mama.

“I don’t know what you’re tal…” Jack is interrupted by Mama.

“Oh, callous on your gun hand. The way Delta’s were trained to reload. So let’s try this again.” Mama says with a raised voice. “You want to tell us who you really are?” she asks. Mac and Jack share a glance knowing they can’t lie.

“Well…” Mac starts as he picks up his fork, takes a piece of his pie and sighs, “we work for the government.” Mac says as he puts the piece of the pie in his mouth.

“What agency?” Mama shouts. That shakes Mac a little as he puts the fork on the plate with a little force so it can make a loud sound.

“Listen, I cannot tell you that. But I can tell you that we’re here for Deckard, so whatever the bounty is on him, we’ll double it.” Mac says with a full mouth. Mama crosses her arms in front of her chest and stares at them both for a moment.

“Do I look like I can be bought?” She asks as Billy’s brother sits next to Mac. There’s a bit of silence and Mac shakes his head as he puts the fork down. He is genuinely kind of scared now.

“So tell us who you’re handing him off to. We’ll go to the official route…”

“Yeah, right.” Billy’s brother interrupts Mac. Mac looks at him as he starts to speak again.

“Make sure you still get paid.” Mac says as he glances at Mama.

“Yeah, be all copasetic.” Jack says.

“No disrespect, son, but somebody who is not on the up and up with me from the get-go is somebody I just can’t trust. Besides, we Coltons, we got a code.” Mama says as she stares at Mac. “We sign a contract, we finish the deal. Now, what good would be if we didn’t keep our word?” Mama asks.

“Well, you make one hell of a pie.” Jack says.

“And you…” Mama points the knife towards Jack while giving him a cold death stare, “you come up in here trying to cause some big old ruckus with my boy Billy, trying to mess up our contract.” Mama says as Jack shakes his head. “Now you know we can’t let that stand.” Mama whispers coldly. Jack thinks that Mama can literally see in his soul from the way she is staring at him.

Mama can see the fear in Jack’s eyes after what she said, and she couldn’t help but start laughing. Behind Mac and Jack, the rest of the Coltons start laughing too. Mac and Jack let out small laughs as the fear and anxiety get out of them. Billy’s brother taps Mac on his shoulder playfully and gets up to stand next to his sister.

“You should’ve seen these boys’ faces!” Mama says while laughing as she looks at her kids. “Looking like you think we’re gonna kill you or something.” Mama says as she glances at Mac and Jack. Jack gives her a fake grin and a fake laugh. As the laughter dies down, Mac and Jack share a glance before looking back to Mama. “As much as I like you boys…I really think it’s best if we don’t ever see y’all again.”

“Probably-probably a good idea.” Jack says.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s-it’s…for the best.” Mac says as he reaches in his pockets. “If that’s the case, I think we’ll just, you know….”

“Bounce.” Jack finishes for Mac as Mac takes some money out of his wallet and puts it on the table.

“Thank you for the pie and we will be on our way.” Mac says as he and Jack both stand up, only to be pushed down on the chairs by Billy and his brother.

“Oh, now, come on, sugar. I may be sweet, but I ain’t stupid. So, Jesse and Billy here, they’re gonna give y’all a ride so far out of town that y’all can’t make no more trouble around here.” Mama says. Billy’s brother walks out of the diner quickly as Mama takes the plates.

“Come on.” Jesse says as he taps Mac on the shoulder. Billy on the other hand grabs Jack and brings him up.

“No need to be so rough, dude.” Jack complains. Mac and Jack get out of the diner as Billy and Jesse follow them closely. As Jesse gets in front of them, they see Billy’s brother taking out some buttermilk pie from a horse trailer. _‘Deckard must be inside.’_ Mac says to himself.

“I don’t think horses eat buttermilk pie.” Mac says to Jack quietly so Jesse and Billy can’t hear him.

“No. Okay so, we know where Deckard is. Let’s just figure out a way to grab him and all get out of here in one piece.” Jack replies quietly.

“Yeah, you think you can figure out a way to piss these guys off?” Mac asks. Jack gives him a smile. _‘That’s my specialty, baby.’_ Jack says to himself.

“Billy! How come you didn’t get a piece of pie, huh? Mama mad at you?” Jack asks as he turns around to face Billy.

“Just keep walking tex.” Billy growls as he pushes Jack forwards.

“Okay, all right.” Jack says in between small laughs.

“Leave him be, Billy.” Jesse says from upfront. “Mama said…”

“I know what Mama said, Jesse!” Billy interrupts Jesse with a raised voice as he walks up to her and gets in her face.

“All right, now, hang on a second.” Jack says as he gets in between them. “This is your sister. That’s no way to talk to her. She’s just trying to help. You know it’s probably that attitude that cost you that pie in the first place.” Jack says as he faces Billy.

“Nah. Baby brother’s on Mama’s list for botching a big job last month.” Jesse says as Mac uses the chance to see in the trailer. He sees Deckard tied up and gagged inside. “Lost a mark and cost us a million-dollar bond.” She says.

“Billy, what are you doing? Y-you’re putting the whole family business at risk here.” Jack says. His plan is working.

“Why do you think I took this job, dumbass?” Billy asks as he faces Jack. Meanwhile Mac grabs his SAK and takes out the knife. He spots the pepper sprays on Billy’s and Jesse’s waist and that gives him an idea. His eyes will probably burn a bit but they need to get Deckard. “Deckard pays two mil.” Billy says.

“Yeah, and taking the job without talking to her only pissed her off more. All you got to do is say sorry, B. That’s all Mama wants.” Jesse says.

“Yeah, yeah, just say sorry, B.” Jack says.

“Exactly.” Jesse adds. That’s when Mac pops the pepper sprays that’s on Billy’s and Jesse’s waist with his knife. The spray goes everywhere and Billy and Jesse start moving, waving their hands, coughing, while Mac and Jack take the chance and get into the truck with the trailer attached in the back. As Jack starts the truck, he hears Billy shout,

“Frank, get out here!” _‘Frank must be Billy’s brother.’_ Jack says to himself. He hits the gas and they are off.

“Ow, man!” Jack says as he scratches his eyes with one hand while holding the wheel with the other. “Maybe warn me before you mace everybody next time, okay?” Jack says as Mac coughs and scratches his eyes. “That was almost as bad as the hot sauce.” Jack says as his eyes are getting watery.

“Almost?” Mac asks as he looks behind them and sees that nobody is following them.

“Yeah, well, this I’m only gonna feel it once. That hot sauce, you know, I felt it a couple of times.” Jack says as he looks at the side mirrors behind them and sees that nobody is following them. “But it worked.”

“Just told Phoenix we got Deckard, and Matty just sent the exfil coordinates.” Mac says as Jack glances at him to see him putting his phone back in his pocket. “So um…just keep heading north.” Jack nods and presses the gas fully. “That was a really good job with that pie bit.” Mac says with a smile.

“Oh, yeah, well it wasn’t that hard to spot the crack between Billy and his mama. You just had to apply pressure, and blam, you just split those two right apart.” Jack says with a proud smile as he wipes a tear from his cheek. _‘God, I hate pepper spray.’_ Jack says to himself.

As they sit in silence, Jack can’t stop thinking about what Jesse said to Billy earlier.

_“All you got to do is say sorry.”_

Jack never apologized to Matty for what he did back at the CIA. Not listening to her. Almost getting them both killed. Since he started working at the Phoenix, Matty never mentioned that mission. And he didn’t as well. Now that Mac has reminded him, he feels bad that he hasn’t apologized from being an idiot.

“I never actually said sorry to Matty for what happened between her and I.” Jack says out loud. Mac glances at him and asks,

“So…it was your fault?”

“Yeah…it was my fault.” Jack sighs and sniffs. “I was an idiot and I almost got us both killed. That’s all I want to say right now. And what Jesse said to Billy back there, it just keeps playing in my head. I really wanted to forget that mission that’s why I haven’t said sorry to her. But I’m gonna, when this mission is over.” Jack says with a nod. “Now, let’s just bring Deckard in and call it a day. Easy peasy lem…” Jack gets interrupted by a loud bang. He starts losing control as he looks forwards to see two cars parked in the middle of the road. As they get closer, he realizes that it’s the Coltons. _‘How the hell did they get in front of us?!'_ Jack asks himself.

He hears a sniper shot as another tire blows and now they find themselves heading towards a tree.

“Hang on!” Jack shouts as the impact is hard. Smoke is coming out from under the hood as Jack feels something trailing down his face. He wipes it off and sees that it’s blood. He looks over at Mac who is shaking his head. “You okay?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, yeah.” Mac replies as he brushes off some blood from his mouth. Jack’s vision is kind of blurry, but he can see Billy pointing a gun at them outside the car. Billy puts his gun away and opens the driver’s door. He drags Jack out furiously and Jack wobbles a bit as he tries to stay on the ground. He looks over and sees Jesse grabbing Mac’s arm and slowly gets him out of the car. _‘Why can’t I get the girl to watch me?’_ Jack says to himself.

_BACK AT THE PHOENIX_

Leanna enters the lab with three cups of coffee. Riley has been working on getting in the CIA file of Jack and Matty’s last mission together. Bozer has been working on Sparky the whole day and Leanna was offering help to both of them. She goes over to Bozer as he is the closest to her and gives him the coffee. Bozer plants a kiss on her cheek and they hear Riley.

“Guys, come here.” She says. They walk over to her and see her opening files. “Got something. An old video in Jack and Matty’s case file labeled “Incident Report”.” Riley says.

“So we’re finally gonna see what happened to them?” Bozer asks.

“Mhm.”

“Jackpot. Or Jack-and-Matty pot.” Bozer says with a laugh. Leanna and Riley give him a weird look. “Yeah, I’ll work on that one.” Bozer says. Riley looks at Leanna and stands up. She gestures Leanna towards the chair.

“You open it.” Riley says.

“Fine.” Leanna says immediately and sits down in front of the laptop. She opens the file and her face drops. “This isn’t a video file.” She says. Then something pops up on the screen that she did not want to see. “It’s loading a video chat.” She says with panic in her voice. She starts pressing buttons on the keyboard but it’s no use. “No, no, no, no…” Matty pops up on the screen.

“Well, this is disappointing.” Matty says.

“We can explain.” Leanna says as she closes her eyes shut.

“You see, Bozer, Leanna…I expected you two to go pawning through my past months ago.” Matty says.

“You planted a fake video?” Leanna asks.

“You knew what we were up to this whole time?” Bozer asks. He should’ve known though.

“You should know Bozer that very little goes on around here without me knowing it. And when agents get distracted, missions go badly.” Matty says angrily. “Case in point: while you three have been busy violating the Espionage Act, Mac and Jack seem to have gotten themselves in trouble.” Matty says as Riley’s eyes go wide and she now concentrates on Matty. “So get your butts upstairs now!” Matty says.

“Okay.” Leanna says quietly and closes the laptop. She glances at Riley who just shrugs, takes her laptop and starts walking towards the war room.

Mac is still trying to get a hold of himself as Jesse is keeping hold of him as they are walking towards the horse trailer. He sees Frank take Deckard out of there, as Jack is starting his plan to piss of Billy.

“Ooh, Billy, what is that cologne you’re wearing? Is that that eau toilet stuff? That toilet cologne?” Jack asks.

“Look, watch it, Tex!” Billy says as he gets in front of Jack and points his gun at him.

“Well, I’m just saying. You-you smell…fantastic.” Jack says sarcastically. Billy raises his eyebrows and gets in Jack’s face.

“This ain’t what you want.” Billy says with rage in his voice as he pushes Jack on his shoulder. Jack still shaken up from the crash stumbles but Mac is behind him and catches him.

“You know what? I’ll take Yosemite Sam.” Jesse says as she grabs Jack’s arm and brings him to her. “You make sure the Boy Scout can’t get loose.” Jesse says to Billy. Billy puts his gun away and grabs Mac by his arm.

“Hands behind your back.” Billy says and Mac does what he’s told.

“Yosemite Sam?” Jack asks sounding offended. They arrive at the back of the trailer as Billy zip ties Mac’s hands.

“Turn around.” Jesse says to Jack. Jesse starts searching Jack from top to bottom. Billy finds Mac’s SAK and takes it with him.

“Take care of that will ya? I’ll come back to get it.” Mac says as he gives Billy a cold stare telling him that he will get out of this and finish his mission. This is the anger talking for Mac. Jesse takes Jack’s phone and gun.

“Put your hands behind your back.” Jesse says and Jack does so. She zip ties his hands behind his back a little to tight though.

“I can see you’ve done this before.” Jack says as Billy pushes Mac in the trailer.

“It’s my favorite part of the job.” Jesse says with a smile and pushes Jack in the trailer. Billy and Jesse put Mac and Jack on the ground and take out another set of zip ties. “Put your feet up.” Jesse orders.

“Oh, come on, the feet, too?” Jack asks.

“Yep.” Jesse says as they finish zip tying them.

“Seriously, Billy, why do you smell like a pooper?” Jack asks.

“You got one more time.” Billy growls as he gets out of the trailer. Jack sees Mac and Billy share the coldest of stares he’s ever seen. Especially Mac’s face. He knows that face. That face tells Jack that Mac will do anything to get out of this place and go after them. Looks like he has some unfinished business with Billy.

“If Mama ever sees either of you again, you’re both gonna get more than a slice of pie, so…” Jesse slaps Jack on the cheek playfully, “stay put, huh?” Jesse says as she stands up to leave.

“Make sure Mama to have some moonshine ready with two slices of pie, cause we won’t be stayin’ here for long.” Jack says.

“Yeah, you ain’t going nowhere.” Billy says.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.” Mac says quietly with anger in his voice just enough for Billy to hear him. Billy closes the trailer and gets in his car. Mac and Jack stand up as the Coltons drive off. Mac quickly starts looking around to see if he can use something to get out of this place.

“Okay, if I can pry one of these things out, these bars, maybe I can use it as a lever.” Mac says.

“A lever to do what, man? Just use this.” Jack says as he slides a phone down his sleeve.

“Where did you get that?” Mac asks as Jack chuckles.

“I swiped it off Billy when I was pissing him off out there.” Jack says with a smile.

“You know what? You hold it, I’ll dial.” Mac says.

“Okay.” Jack replies. Mac turns around and kneels down. This is gonna be hard, dialing with your hands tied up behind your back. He kneels down and slowly dials Matty’s number. “That was a pretty good move right there.” Jack says.

“Let’s not waste it.” Mac says as he hits the call button.

“Well this is going well.” They hear Matty’s voice from the phone.

“Uh, hey, Matty. We’re uh…we’re a little tied up right now.” Mac says.

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re not speaking figuratively?” Matty says. Mac closes his eyes and sighs. “Do you at least still have Deckard?” Matty asks.

“Well that’s a funny story…” Jack says.

“Hilarious. Oh, I can’t wait to hear all about it.” Matty says sarcastically. “But right now I’m a little busy sending, Riley, Bozer, Leanna and a team of Phoenix agents to do what you guys couldn’t.” Matty says as she hangs up. “Go.” She tells the trio and they leave the war room.

“That’s…great.” Jack says sarcastically.

“Hey, it’s not over.” Mac says as Jack sits down and sighs. “Throw Billy’s phone on the ground. Make sure it’s on it’s back.” Mac says. Jack gives him a confusing look but does what Mac said. Mac jumps and lands on the phone. He keeps hitting the phone with his foot.

“I know our conversation with Matty didn’t exactly go well, but didn’t you want to try and use Billy’s phone to call somebody else to come and free us?” Jack asks.

“I figured just use the phone itself to free us.” Mac says as he searches blindly for the circuit board and eventually find it. “Circuit boards…are just pieces of copper laminated onto a nonconductive substrate, like fiberglass.” Mac says as he starts rubbing the circuit board on a bar trying to make it sharper. “Which means it can be sanded down into…a blade.” Mac says as he finishes.

“A knife. High fives. Come and cut me loose.” Jack says as Mac gets back to back with Jack and starts cutting the zip tie on Jack’s hands. “Ow!” Jack shouts as Mac accidentally cuts Jack a bit. “I’d like to keep all the blood inside my body, dude.” Jack says.

“Sorry.” Mac replies and goes back to cutting the zip tie. Mac cuts Jack’s zip tie and Jack turns around, grabs the blade and cuts Mac’s zip ties. “Let’s go.”

“We are far. How are we gonna get there?” Jack asks as they exit the trailer.

“Run.” Mac says as he starts running. Jack groans and follows him. They’ve been running for 20 minutes. It was just a straight road, no short cuts they could take. Mac wished for a car to pass by, so they could stop it and take it. But so far no luck. And then Mac remembered a gas station they passed a while ago. There has to be some cars there.

“Feels like we’ve been running forever, man. You sure the gas station you saw was in this direction?” Jack asks.

“Yeah.” Mac replies.

“Cause, I don’t mind running, I just don’t want to go in the wrong way.” Jack says as he glances at Mac.

“Hey, you sure you wanna start a conversation with Matty about what happened between you two? I mean…she doesn’t seem to have a problem with you.” Mac says. Jack glances at him while they are running.

“Yeah. Now that your reminded me, it’s gonna haunt me if I don’t apologize. Matty’s been literally saving my ass for years. So I owe her an apology. Don’t know how an “I’m sorry” is gonna fix it though.” Jack says.

“‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t fix anything. It just starts the conversation.” Mac says. He is supporting Jack’s decision here. If he was in his place, he would’ve apologized to Matty, too. Jack looks at him with a smile and nods.

“Okay, can we hurry up and steal a car or something?” Jack asks sounding tired.

“We can commandeer one. If you can keep up.” Mac says as he starts to speed up. “I’ll probably beat you there, so you might want to get running!” Mac says as he sprints in front. Jack with a grin picks up the pace and starts chasing him. Five minutes later they arrive at the gas station. And finally some good luck, they spot a Ford Bronco, fueled up with the owner inside paying.

The owner left the doors open, which wasn’t smart, and they get in the Bronco. The owner left his keys inside the ignition too. Guess he wasn’t expecting two secret agents to steal his vehicle. As Jack starts the truck, Mac spots the owner running out of the gas station towards them.

“Hey, go, go, go!” Mac says.

“Hey, get out of my truck!” The owner shouts. Jack looks to his left and sees the owner. He hits the gas as the owner hits the truck.

“I’ll bring it back, I promise!” Jack shouts.

“Breathe, baby. Just breathe.” Mama says with a smile. “Have a bite of pie, and tell Mama what’s going on.” Mama says as she is looking at Bozer. Bozer with a smile takes a bit of the delicious buttermilk pie. Bozer takes out a picture of a man and drags the photo across the table to Mama.

“He said he was an investment advisor. I didn’t know he was a con man.” Bozer says as Mama looks at the picture. “Bastard ran off with all the money I saved for our honeymoon.”

“Honeymoon?” Mama says and gasp with happiness. Bozer grins and looks over to Leanna who is giving him a warm smile. “Congratulations.” Mama says with a grin.

“Thank you.” Leanna says sweetly. “I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.” Leanna says as she looks at Bozer. She knows they are undercover right now, but she genuinely feels like the luckiest girl in the world. Bozer is her dream man and her best friend all rolled into one.

“We’ve met each other at school. And never left each other sides since then.” Bozer says. Mama can see the love they have for each other. She can read their eyes like a book for children.

“So I’m assuming y’all have gone to the police?” Mama asks.

“We did. They say there’s nothing they can do.” Bozer says.

“Or they just don’t want to.” Billy mumbles under his breath. Jesse glances at him knowing what he’s referring to. Billy has seen some cops being racist, attacking black people for no reason, not caring to help and stuff, and he also has seen a cop fighting with an other cop who acted violently to an innocent black man. Billy watched the cop put the racist cop in his place, after everything calmed down the cop & Billy had a conversation. Billy told the cop this should be the bare minimum and the right thing any cop should do but he understood it took a lot of courage to for the cop to go against his partner and possibly the entire department. They exchanged mutual respect & greetings and Billy left.

“Well, you come to the right place. So…tell me all you know about this lying sack of taters.” Mama says. Leanna’s phone vibrates in her hand. She looks down and sees a message from Riley who was outside in the car.

“Keep them talking. Tac team are moving in now.”

Frank is guarding the shed where Deckard is being kept just in case Mac and Jack pop out of nowhere. As he looks around, he hears the water running at the side of the diner. He sighs and goes to shut it off. That’s when the tac team moves in. An agents opens the lock and another one grabs Deckard. As the agent drags Deckard out of the shed, the agent puts the lock back on and leaves. It’s like nothing ever happened. Frank turns the water off and looks around to see if the guy who turned it on is near by. But he doesn’t see anybody. So he goes back to the shed. Everything looks fine. The look is still there which means Deckard is inside. Well, at least that’s what he thinks.

Riley sighs in relief as the tac team grab Deckard without getting noticed. She picks up the phone and sends a message to Leanna telling her that they have Deckard. She turns off her phone as a knock from the window next to her startles her. She glances right and sees Mac grinning at her. She opens the door and Mac quickly presses his lips on hers. Riley closes her eyes and enjoys the moment. She puts her hand on his cheek as he kisses her passionately now. When he pulls back, he looks at her beautiful face with love.

“What was that about? Not that I’m complaining.” Riley says with a smile.

“After the day I had, I wanted to feel your lips and show you how much I love you.” Mac says with a warm smile.

While that was happening, Bozer told the undercover story to Mama. And it looks like she bought it.

“Well, Mr. and Ms. Wilson, I think we’ve got everything we need to get started.” Mama says.

“Oh, and, uh, he has a little freckle, like, uh, like right here on his hand.” Bozer says as Leanna’s phone buzzes. She looks down to see a message from Riley confirming that they have Deckard, and to get in the car so they can go to exfil. “Looks like Delaware, only smaller. I just…”

“They’re professionals, honey. Let them do their thing, okay?” Leanna says as she glances at Bozer with a smile. Mama finds that weird…interrupting him all of the sudden.

“Ah, whatever you say, snookie-ookums.” Bozer says and Leanna wants to cringe so hard at the word Bozer just called her. Bozer glances at Mama who was giving him a weird look. “Newlyweds. Newlyweds.” Bozer says awkwardly as he glances at Billy and Jesse who were giving him a suspicious look.

“Please let us know if you find this man and thank you so much for your help.” Leanna says to Mama with a smile.

“Oh, you’re very welcome, baby, and don’t you worry. Mama always gets her man.” Mama says. Leanna and Bozer share a glance.

“Well, after you, sweetie.” Bozer says with a grin as he stands up. Leanna stands up with a smile and grabs her backpack.

“Bye.” She says.

“Bye-bye.” Mama replies.

“No more pet names.” Leanna whispers to Bozer as they walk away from the Coltons. Mama watches them closely as they leave the diner. She knows something is up. So she glances at Billy and Jesse and says,

“Find out who they really are.”

“Even though that wasn’t the cover story we planned, I liked it.” Leanna says with a smile as they get out of the diner.

“I wish it would come…” Bozer stops as he sees Mac, Jack and Riley at the car. He was gonna tell her how he wishes that it would come true one day. He and Leanna. Together for the rest of their lives. “Well, well, well. Guess who’s been running like on a marathon.” Bozer says jokingly.

“We came with a car. We…ran before that.” Jack says.

“Guys, where’s Deckard?” Mac asks.

“Gone. While we were distracting the Coltons, our tac team ran in and grabbed him.” Leanna says and Riley nods.

“He’s on the way to exfil now.” Riley says with a smile.

“Hey, mission accomplished, homeboy. Up top.” Bozer says as lifts his hands up offering Mac high fives. Just as Mac was about to high five Bozer, Jack spots three bulletproof SUVs coming towards them.

“Ooh no. Up-top homeboy. Who’s in the bulletproof SUVs?” Jack asks. Mac sees the SUVs park in front of the diner. He sees a couple of men get out of the SUVs and one of them opens the passenger door. And out comes a familiar man they saw yesterday on the war room screen.

“That’s Armin Morsofian.” Mac says,

“Deckard’s old boss?” Bozer asks.

“Yeah.” Mac says and that’s when the dots started to connect. “Wait. The Coltons were never gonna hand Deckard over to a government agency. They were hired by the Armenians.”

“Yeah, who are probably gonna put a bullet in Deckard the munite the Coltons hand him over.” Jack says.

“So we just saved Deckard’s life?” Riley asks.

“Yeah, but we might have just gotten the Coltons killed.” Mac says. Jack sighs and rubs his face.

“So, you better come up with a plan. I can see you working on something. You got something?” Jack asks as Mac looks around.

“Yeah, I got something. I’m just not sure it’s much of a plan.” Mac says as he presses his lips in a thin line. Riley looks at him with worried eyes and he realizes that. He goes over and gives her a kiss on the cheek and tells everybody the plan. Then Mac walks in the diner to see the Armenians and the Coltons talking.

“Hey, everybody.” Mac says. That’s when every single person except for Armin and Mama reach for their gun. “Woah.” Mac says as he lifts his hands up. He looks over at Mama who is giving him a death stare. “How we doing?” Mac asks with a chuckle.

“All right, you guys know what to do, right?” Jack asks.

“We’ll be ready.” Leanna says.

“Ready for what? I’m not even exactly sure what Mac’s doing in there.” Bozer says.

“Just follow his instructions.” Jack says.

“I am Mac. I work for Mama.” Mac says. _‘What the hell?!’_ Mama asks herself. “Sorry Mama, I got tied up.” Mama needed to know what is going on here. So she plays along. She smiles and faces Morsofian.

“Please excuse me for a few minutes. Talk to my associate. He’s working on another job for us.” Mama says as she walks up to Mac. They walk in the kitchen and Mama immediately begins to speak, “I don’t know what kind of game you are playing here, but…”

“No games.” Mac interrupts her. “My people have Deckard.” Mac says and Mama looks at him with wide eyes.

“Well, my clients are not gonna like that.” Mama says.

“Your clients are an international crime syndicate. Once they find out you don’t have Deckard, they’re gonna start shooting.” Mac says.

“Well, then, why don’t I just tell them you took him?” Mama growls.

“Your family’s in danger either way. Look for yourself, Mama. 12 men, armed to the teeth.” Mac says as they both look back at the men. “And unless they forgot your two million dollars in the car, I don’t think they were ever planning on paying you.” Mac says. And Mama knows that the boy has a point.

“Well, failure to render payment breaks their contract, so does your previous offer stand?” Mama asks sounding angry. Most likely at the Armenians. She is talking about the deal Mac offered for the Phoenix to pay them double if they give them Deckard.

“Consider yourself hired.” Mac says with a smile. “Now ask Jesse to go get Deckard.” Mac says and Mama nods.

“Jesse?”

“Yes, Mama.” Jesse replies.

“Go and fetch Mr. Morsofian’s package.” Mama says while looking at Mac. Jesse doesn’t waste a second and is off after Deckard. Mac goes in the kitchen to get the supplies he needs for his plan while Mama walks back to Morsofian.

“Excuse the delay. Can I offer you gentlemen a slice of buttermilk pie on the house?” Mama asks as she glances at Morsofian’s crew and Morsofian himself.

“No, thank you. Just please, bring us Deckard.” Morsofian says. That’s when Jesse comes back with a worried face. She walks over to Mama and whispers in her ear.

“He’s gone.”

“Is there a problem?” Morsofian asks. That’s when one of Morsofian’s men shouts something in Armenian. Everyone from Morsofian’s crew turns towards a window and so do the Coltons. They all see a man with a bag on his head, his hands tied behind his back, running. Morsofian starts shouting something in Armenian to his men. His men bring out their guns and run out of the diner. Some of them stayed in the diner with Morsofian.

Bozer, Leanna and Riley are hiding behind a truck. They hear Morsofian’s men come out of the diner and start shooting at the man running. More specifically, Jack.

“Whoa!! Holy shit!! Ah, this better work!!” Jack shouts as he runs down the road. Morsofian’s men get in the SUVs to start chasing him. That’s when Riley came in. Bozer points the Bluetooth device to the first SUV and Riley quickly hacks it.

“No whammies, no whammies, no whammies…” Jack keeps saying while running. He hears the SUV behind him and knows what’s going to happen. They are gonna run him over. Thankfully, Riley has control of the car and hits the brakes, locks the doors and turns off the engine. She does the same for all SUVs. Jack stops running as he hears the tires screech. He turns around and takes off his bag. With a big smile on his face, he glances at Riley.

“Great job, honey!” he shouts. Riley grins and sees Leanna offering her a high five. She takes it and starts laughing from happiness.

Inside the diner, Morsofian with three of his men are face to face with the Coltons. He says something in Armenian as he pulls his gun out. That’s when the Coltons pull their guns out too. Mama with her shotgun, while the other with their pistols. Then the Coltons see Mac coming out from the kitchen behind Morsofian and starts spraying something in the air. Morsofian and his men start coughing as they turn around and face Mac.

“I would think twice before I pull that trigger. Mama’s Moonshine is, uh, what? About 150 proof?” Mac asks.

“155.” Mama replies. Mac glances at Armin who has his gun pointed at Mac ready to shoot.

“Listen to me, Armin. One spark from your gun, one muzzle flash from any of the others, and that ethanol vapor you’re choking on right now…it’s gonna turn Mama’s Diner into Mama’s Barbeque Joint.” Mac says.

“Or I can just save you the decision…” Mama says as she lights up a wooden match, “and light you up myself.” Mama says with a smile. Mama can already see the defeat on Morsofian’s face. There’s a long moment where everyone just looked at each other, not saying anything, and then Morsofian lowers his gun. Mac sighs in relief as Mama blows the match.

They called the FBI to come pick up Morsofian and his crew. As Mama watches them being put in the FBI van, he hears her son’s voice from behind her.

“Hey, Mama.” Billy says. Mama turns around to see the guilt on Billy’s face. “I know I screwed up, and now I almost got us all killed. I-I guess what I’m trying to tell you…I’m sorry.” Billy says softly. Mama looks at him for a moment and she knows he is sorry. So she opens her arms and brings Billy for a hug.

“It’s all right, son.” Mama says. Mac and the rest of the team see the beautiful moment and then Billy and Mama approach them with a smile. Mac sees Frank offering him a handshake and he takes it. “Well, y’all broke my no-lying rule six ways to Sunday, now didn’t you?” Mama asks sarcastically as Mac puts his arm around Riley’s shoulder. Billy realizes that and he’s a bit sad now. He thought the girl was gorgeous and was thinking of maybe asking her out. _‘Mac is one lucky guy.’_ Billy says to himself.

“Yes, but it was for a good cause.” Mac says.

“Well, I don’t rightly care about the cause as much as I do getting paid. So, will that be cash or credit?” Mama asks.

“He’s gonna have to talk to our boss before you get paid. It’s actually a conversation I’m looking forward to.” Jack says pointing at Mac. “In the meantime, lots of buttermilk pie.” Jack says as he glances at Mama. The Coltons smile at that.

“Well, all things considered, it wasn’t too bad working with you too.” Mama says. “But I will tell you one thing.” Mama says as she takes a few steps towards Mac and Jack. “If you ever steal my mark again, oh, there will be hell to pay.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jack says.

“Yeah.” Mac adds. Mama leaves leaving the team with the rest of the Coltons.

“You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?” Billy says as he looks at Mac.

“It’s uh, not the first time I’ve heard that.” Mac says.

“But that thing you did in there? Not bad.” Billy says with a smile. Mac returns a smile, but a small one. “I’ve never seen nobody turn a diner into a weapon before.”

“Yeah, you should see what he can do with shoe strings and bubblegum.” Bozer says with a laugh as he looks at Billy. All of them let out a laugh.

“All right, we’ll see y’all later.” Jesse says as she leaves them. The brothers follow her but Mac grabs Billy’s arm and stops him.

“Give me my SAK back, please.” Mac says sounding as polite as he can be. Billy takes out the SAK from his pocket and gives it to Mac with a smile. As Billy follows Frank back in the diner, the team walks to their car.

“Man, I kinda wanna stay and kick it with the Coltons.” Bozer says.

“I think Jack wants to be a Colton.” Mac says jokingly.

“Jack’s not cool enough to be a Colton.” Leanna says.

“Agreed.” Riley adds with a laugh.

“Yeah, cause I hang out with you nerds.” Jack says.

_THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION_

“So…aside from one or two teenie, weenie hiccups along the way. I’d call that mission a total success.” Jack says as he sits on the chair in the war room.

“Well, of course you would, Jack, cause you’re not the one who has to explain to Oversight why Phoenix is on the hook for a four million dollar bounty to the Coltons.” Matty says as she deliberately glances at Mac. Mac looks away when he saw the look she was giving him. “Go home. All of you.” Matty says. They all start leaving except Jack. Mac looks behind him to see Jack glancing at him. Jack nods telling him that he is gonna apologize and Mac gives him a smile. He closes the door as Jack faces Matty.

“Hey, Matty?” Jack sits down on the armchair. Matty turns around from the war room screen.

“Yes, Jack?” She asks.

“Think we need to talk for a minute.” Jack says quietly. Matty can read people like a book. So seeing the guilt and hurt on Jack’s face, she knows exactly what Jack wants to talk about.

_MAC’S HOUSE_

As usual, after a successful mission, they all go to Mac’s house to hang out. This time Jack is missing, as he stayed at the Phoenix to talk to Matty. Diane finishes cutting the last piece of buttermilk pie and hands it to Bozer.

“I didn’t even know what buttermilk pie was until today.” Riley says with her mouth full as she is sitting in Mac’s lap.

“It’s delicious, ain’t it?” Mac asks. Riley nods and picks up a piece of the pie with her fork. She brings the piece to Mac and puts it in his mouth. Mac laughs as he chews and wraps his arms around Riley tighter.

“I never wanna stop eating it.” Leanna says.

“Looks like I’ll be calling Mama and placing an order for the missus.” Bozer says.

“If you call me one more of those stupid pet names…” Leanna says.

“You guys gave each other pet names?” Mac asks.

“We did not give each other pet names. He gave me, like, a dozen.” Leanna says.

“Well, I got to hear those. And that’s an order.” Matty says appearing from the corner with Jack behind her. Mac and Jack exchanged looks, and with Jack giving him a happy nod, Mac knew that everything was resolved. Bozer looks at Matty with shock. She was the person he least expected to show up here. And that “that’s an order” scared him. Matty sees the fear in his eyes and laughs. “I’m kidding. We’re off the clock.” Matty says. Bozer sighs in relief. “So, stop pet-naming Leanna and cut me a slice of this pie that Jack won’t stop yapping about.” Bozer immediately jumps and runs to the kitchen.

“I’m guessing the apology went well.” Mac says quietly to Jack who sat next to him.

“Well, a wise man once told me that “I’m sorry” only starts the conversation.” Jack says with a smile. Mac fist bumps Jack with a smile. Bozer comes back and gives Matty a plate with a slice of buttermilk pie.

“So…who’s ready for another game of truth or dare?” Bozer asks dramatically. They all raise a hand, including Matty.

“I love truth or dare.” Matty says with a smile.

“Oh, you do?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, I do.” Matty replies.

“That’s great, cause there, for a second, I thought tonight wasn’t going to get super duper awkward.” Jack says.

“Oh, it’s gonna get very awkward for you, Jack. I know all your secrets, remember? So, I’ll know whether you’re telling the truth or not.” Matty says.

“All right, well, I’ll go dare all night, baby.” Jack says with a smile.

“Bring it.” Matty challenges.

“Bust out the hot sauce.” Jack says. As he says that, Mac takes it out from behind him. What a better way to end the day with a painful trip to the toilet, right?


	15. Part 1: Duct tape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this chapter is gonna be very long, I decided to split it into two parts. You can hate on the beginning of this chapter in the comments about how stupid the mission is. I can't come up with new missions so I wrote what police would do. It's stupid, I'm sorry. Part 2 will come soon.

One week after meeting with the Coltons, Matty has a mission for them. And this one is a big one. One of the biggest drug dealers, Diego Lopez, has been staying in LA for a while. Since the police can’t take him away for the drugs, The Phoenix thought it would be best if they did it. So, Matty is about to send Bozer and Mac undercover to meet with Diego, make deals and become friends, and find his weakness from the inside and take him down. It wasn’t gonna be easy. Diego has a lot of friends out there, and probably some are gonna be with him tonight at the club. The club where Diego has been staying.

Matty arrives inside the war room after leaving to get something. That’s what she told the others. “You two ready? It’s almost evening.” Matty says as she walks up to Mac and Bozer.

“Yep. We’re ready.” Mac says as he puts on his jacket, and so does Bozer.

“You’re gonna need this.” Matty says as she takes out a little bag full of something. Mac gives her a confusing look as he takes the bag. He looks inside the bag and sees drugs. Well, Mac thought those were lookalikes but he’s not sure.

“Are these lookalikes?” Mac asks as he hands Bozer the bag. Mac looks at Matty and he sees her shaking her head. “You want us to give Diego actual drugs. I’m assuming we all know that’s illegal.” Mac says angrily.

“Yeah, Matty, what is this?” Jack asks.

“Listen. Diego has some guards at the back door which is where you need to go. He doesn’t meet with people if they don’t have drugs. And his guards will recognize if they are fake. So, you need to take them.” Matty says.

“This is a bad idea.” Mac says. He looks at everyone who had worried looks, especially Riley.

“I know. But it’s the only option, Mac.” Matty says. Mac sighs as he has a bad feeling about this. They need to avoid cops. If they get caught the mission fails. For getting out, that’s not gonna be a problem. Matty will get them out with one phone call. _‘Let’s not worry about that right now.’_ Mac says to himself. He actually doesn’t know what to say to Matty, so instead he places the bag in his pocket and faces Bozer.

“Let’s go.” Mac says and Bozer nods. Bozer goes first as Mac goes and gives Riley a kiss.

“Be careful.” Riley whispers.

“You know I will.” Mac replies with a smile. With that he follows Bozer and they get in Mac’s truck.

“You sure this is gonna work?” Bozer says and Mac just shrugs. He doesn’t want to jinx anything.

They arrive at the club. Mac parks his truck at the side of the road. They sit in the truck for a while, seeing a lot of men and women, all dressed up nicely, going inside the club. Looks like a lot of taxi’s and Uber’s are gonna be called tonight. And there is probably gonna be a few drug deals inside there. Matty said the back door, so they probably need to enter the ally way that Mac is seeing. By the looks of it, that’s the only way to the back.

“Ready?” Bozer asks.

“Yeah. Let’s do this.” Mac says as he opens the driver’s door. Mac and Bozer enter the ally way and walk slowly. They put their hoodie hats looking like drug dealers. They spot two men standing in front of the back door of the club. _‘Bingo.’_ They approach them with a serious look.

“What do you want?” one of the guards ask.

“Hey, I’m Andrew, this is my buddy, Jeff. We heard Diego’s in town so maybe he can hook us up with a few grams of coke.” Mac says and he can’t believe he is saying this kind of stuff. The guard extends his hand towards Mac and he knows what he wants. Mac takes out the bag with the drugs and give it to him. The guard looks inside and nods. He takes one pill and swallows it.

“Wait here.” The guard says as he goes inside, leaving Mac and Bozer with the other guard. They wait for a minute in silence for the guard, and then he comes out and says, “Diego is busy right now. Come back in 10 minutes.” The guard says. Mac and Bozer exchange glance and they walk away from the guards.

“And now we wait.” Mac says. “Let’s go for a walk. I don’t want to just sit here.” Mac says.

“Yeah.” Bozer replies as he follows him out of the ally way. They walk in silence, getting away from the loud music coming from the club and the people shouting for the guards to hurry up to let them in. “You still having those nightmares?” Bozer asks. Mac sighs.

“Yeah.” He says quietly. “I hated waking up Riley every night, so I told her to sleep at her mom’s for a few night, to sleep properly.” Mac says.

“I’m guessing she didn’t want to.” Bozer says.

“Yeah, but I told her that it’s gonna get better. Which isn’t true. I tried sleeping with the light on, doesn’t work. I try to think about good things before falling asleep, it doesn’t work. Every nightmare it’s just “soon, soon, soon” and it doesn’t stop.” Mac says with a sad voice. He’s been having these kind of nightmares since the second letter showed up, after San Francisco. “And the worst part is…we don’t even know who it’s from or what does it mean.” Mac says as he glances at Bozer. Bozer realized this morning that Mac didn’t get sleep last night, those dark circles under his eyes speak everything.

“I’m sorry, Mac. Wish I could say it will get better and everything would be okay, but…I really don’t know.” Bozer says.

“Thanks, Boze.” Mac says with a smile. That’s when police cars surround them. The red and blue lights blinding him, as they hear a cop yell.

“Hands up! Now!” Mac and Bozer do that. Two cops put their hands behind their backs and cuff them.

“What are we being charged with?” Mac asks.

“Drug dealing. We saw you two coming out of the ally way that leads to the back of the club where Diego does drug deals.” The cop says.

“Well, why don’t you go arrest him?” Mac asks.

“We got people on it. We got the evidence now.” The cop says. Mac looks at the club in the distance and sees that it is surrounded by cop cars. Mac saw this coming. He literally was thinking about this in the war room. They couldn’t say anything to the cops now. They can’t expose The Phoenix. So they rolled with it. Apparently, all of LAPD’s interrogation rooms are full, so now they are sitting in jail. They are lucky they didn’t have the drugs with them when the cops surrounded them. That would’ve made it more complicated. Matty surely heard the sirens through the comms so it’s a matter of time before they are out.

“You know what’s the funny thing?” Mac asks.

“There’s a funny thing about all of this?” Bozer asks sarcastically.

“I actually thought about this happening while we were in the war room.” Mac says. Bozer sighs and circles the bars with his hands. He does not like sitting in this cell. Half an hour has passed and still nothing from Matty.

“Matty has never been this slow.” Bozer says. That’s when they hear a door open. They see a female cop opening their cell.

“Come on. You’re free to go.” The cop says. Mac and Bozer don’t waste anytime and get out of the cell. As they go outside of the district, they see Jack waiting for them with his GTO. Mac sees Jack open his mouth and holds his hand up.

“I know Matty’s pissed. You don’t have to tell me.” Mac says as he gets in the car. Bozer gets in the car aswell and Jack shakes his head. They arrive at The Phoenix and Matty gives them a briefing with that angry post failed mission voice. They are lucky the LAPD found the evidence to finally arrest Diego, otherwise Matty would’ve been more pissed. When Matty told them they are free now, they all got out of the war room to go home.

“Hey, you want me to stay at your place tonight?” Riley asks.

“No, Riles. I want you to sleep peacefully. Besides, the nightmares are starting to disappear. I have one and wake up, and when I go back to sleep I don’t have one. It’s not like last time.” Mac lies. He’s a secret agent so he knows how to lie. That’s why Riley smiles and that tells him that she believes him.

“Okay, that’s great. Because those dark circles don’t look good on you.” Riley says with a smile. Mac laughs a bit and kisses her on the lips. He puts his hands on her waist and pushes her towards him as Riley buries her hand in his hair with the other one cupping his cheek. They break the kiss and stand like that for a moment. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Riley says with a smile. She backs away and starts walking towards the exit. Mac just watches her as she leaves. How lucky he is to have a woman like Riley. If something happens to her, it would break him like nothing has ever broke him before.

Mac is now sitting on his deck. With a bottle of beer in his hand, he is watching the beautiful city of LA in the night. All of the buildings shining in different colors. It is truly a beautiful sight. Mac takes a sip of his beer, only to realize that he is dry. He sighs and gets up to go the kitchen. It’s pretty late and he isn’t feeling sleepy, which is weird cause from the amount of sleep that he’s gotten these last two weeks, he should be passed out on the floor by now.

Mac arrives in the kitchen and opens the fridge. He grabs a bottle of beer and places it on the counter. He opens a drawer and grabs the cap opener. He opens the bottle and gets ready to go on the deck. On his way, he stops…because he sees a dark human figure outside of his window in the distance at the end of his living room. He’d lie if he says that that didn’t scare him.

“Hello?” he calls out but not a sound has been made. Mac has a feeling the human is looking right at him. He doesn’t know for sure though since everything is dark. “Who are you?” he asks. The human stays like that for a moment before he turns to Mac’s right and walks out of sight. Mac didn’t hear footsteps, which is impossible. That’s when from the corner of his eye, the city lights all go out at the same time. Mac snaps his head towards the city to see everything black. _‘What the hell is going on…’_ Mac asks himself. He is really scared now. He approaches the light switch and turns it on. But the lights don’t come on. He walks over to check the city again, and it’s the same. He takes out his phone and turns on the flashlight. He flashes at the window he saw the human at, but nothing. _‘What if he’s in the house?’_ Mac thinks. He checks everywhere quietly. First the kitchen, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the attic, and nothing. Nobody is in the house. He goes back to the living room and sees something different. Something is falling from the sky. Something in a dark disgusting green color. And Mac has seen the same color…in a canister. A canister that nearly messed him up and died for in a burning mall in Skopje. _‘The virus.’_ They were planning to release it in the air. _‘Have they done it? What has happened?!’_ Mac asks himself.

“Mac.” He hears a voice behind him that startles him so much. He turns around and flashes his flashlight…at Riley.

“Riles?” Mac asks. Riley’s face remains the same. Full of hurt and sadness. She had dried up trails of tears on her cheeks. Mac takes a step forward towards her, only for her to back away. Mac saw that Riley didn’t want to be near him, so he stops. “Riley, what’s going on?” Mac asks.

“Are you proud of yourself?” Riley asks with a shaky voice full of sadness.

“What are you talking about?” Mac asks.

“Don’t give me that crap, Mac.” Riley says quietly. “All you had to do was let us help you. Let me help you. You didn’t have to go though it alone when she died.” Riley says. _‘Died?’_ Mac says to himself.

“Riles, who died?” He asks. Riley while trying to fight the tears from falling, scoffs with a sarcastic smile.

“I can’t believe you. I didn’t know you had this side of you, Mac.” Riley says.

“Riley, what is going on?” Mac asks with a raised voice. Riley couldn’t fight it and a tear slides down her cheek She shakes her head and looks down.

“I can’t do this anymore.” She looks up at Mac with watery eyes. “We are done, Mac.” She says as she starts walking to the door.

“Done?! Wait, Riles!” Mac starts going after her. She sees Riley opening the door and walking straight out fast. “Riley!” he shouts after her as he opens the door. He walks out, only to find himself in a hallway in a place he knows very well. The Phoenix Foundation. _‘How…’_ Mac is so lost. He looks around and sees white walls around him with a shiny white floor beneath him. He looks back to see a wall. His house is gone. It’s just a big white wall behind him. He then hears footsteps from the distance. Since there is only one way, he goes straight. He realizes that there’s a left turn coming. As he approaches the turn, he spots a leg.

He gulps as he walks slowly. And the next thing he sees makes his heart break. Bozer is lying on the ground with his hand on his stomach covered in blood. “Bozer!” Mac kneels down beside him and takes his hand off to reveal a big stab wound. He puts two fingers underneath his chin to feel his pulse. Nothing. “No.” Mac starts CPR. “Come on, Boze. You can’t leave me. You can’t.” Mac says on the verge of breaking down. As a tear slides down his cheek, he spots a foot from the corner of his eye. A foot that he didn’t see when he saw Bozer. Bozer’s the only one he saw in the hallway. He looks in that direction and the thing he saw truly frightened him. The whole hallway, from the beginning to the end, if full with dead people. Dead people he knows. The techs that work at the Phoenix, the cleaners, the accounting employers and whole lot of people…including Matty, Leanna and Jack. He goes to check for their pulse, even though he knows the answer to that cause he can see gunshot wounds right through the chest.

“What is going on?!!” Mac screams as he falls on his knees and buries his face in his hands. He starts sobbing knowing everybody is dead. _‘Why is this happening…’_ he asks himself. Then he hears the footsteps he heard before. He quickly gets up and goes straight. He avoids the bodies as he realizes that there’s a right turn. He turns right and sees Riley about to go through a door.

“Riley! Please, stop!” Mac yells. It’s a big hallway and there’s a big distance between them. He sees Riley stop moving and just standing still. “Riley, please, help me. I don’t know what’s going on.” Mac says as tears are streaming down his face. He looks behind him and realizes that the bodies are gone. Every single one. But the blood is still there. What was a shiny white floor, is now a pool of blood. He turns back to Riley to see her now facing him, standing at the same spot. He starts walking towards her. She’s not backing away so now maybe she will let him get close to her. That’s when Mac realized that he hasn’t made any progress. He’s still in the same spot. He starts walking again and looks down. He can see that he’s going forwards but…he’s still the same distance away from Riley.

“Riley!” Mac shouts. Mac has good eyes, so even though Riley is far away from him, he can see the sad smile that’s on her face.

“I will always love you, Angus MacGyver.” Riley says. “That will never change.” He was about to tell her that he loved her more than anything, but he sees the door open from behind her, and a familiar face that he hasn’t seen in months and thought that he was in prison comes out. _‘Kendrick.’_ Mac remembers Kendrick. He remembers San Francisco, his first mission together with Jack. His heart starts beating faster as he spots a knife in Kendrick’s hand. Kendrick puts his hand on Riley’s shoulder and stabs her in the back.

“NOO!!” Mac screams as he starts running, and now he’s closing in on them. Mac sees Riley keeping his eyes on him, even though pain has taken over her from the stab. Her face brakes Mac’s heart into a million pieces. He sees Kendrick taking out the knife and stabbing her again. “KENDRICK!!!” He screams as he gets closer to them. But the next step Mac takes, leads him to fall in a hole that’s endless. He’s falling and everything is black around him. “RILEY!!!” He screams as he’s falling. He looks down and there’s nothing. Everything is black. He closes his eyes and screams, not knowing when this is gonna end. Preparing to be squashed on the ground…but he doesn’t. Instead, he feels ground…dirt. He opens his eyes and realizes he’s laying on the ground on his stomach. He quickly gets up and looks around. He’s at the hill he always goes to. But it is daytime now. He’s alone up there, looking at the forest.

When he turns around to face the city he sees and hears horror. Buildings were on fire, black smoke everywhere, he can hear sirens, people screaming. He walks over to the railing and…doesn’t know what to do. _‘Why is this happening to me?!’_ he asks himself.

“Proud of your work?” A familiar voice comes up from behind him. Mac’s eyes go wide as he knows who’s behind him. He turns around and sees Reese. Reese with a half burned face, and the two gunshot wounds he received in Lake Como.

“Reese…” Mac trails off as he is in shock.

“I’m so disappointed in you, Mac.” Reese says. “Did I die for nothing?!” Reese shouts.

“No! Of course not! The virus is safely kept in The Phoen…DXS.” Mac says. He realized that Reese wouldn’t know what The Phoenix is.

“Is it?! Cause from what I can see, people are breathing it in and they are dying. The city is dying! And soon the world will too! And it’s all because of you!!” Reese yells as he gets in Mac’s face.

A woman coughing comes out of nowhere and approaches them. She starts gagging as she stands next to Mac. Then she starts throwing up on Mac. And it’s not puke she’s letting out. It’s blood. A lot of blood. Mac’s white shirt is now red. The woman stops throwing up blood and collapses on the ground next to them. Mac turns around to see the city and nothing has changed. The building are burning, screams can be heard, sirens from police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, helicopters flying. It’s like the apocalypse.

“I thought I thought you something. Guess I was wrong. Didn’t know Dark Mac existed in this world. Never thought it was a possibility too.” Reese says. Mac turns to face him only to realize that he’s gone. That’s when he starts coughing and his chest starting to burn. He falls on his knees as he feels week and suddenly out of nowhere, blood comes out of his mouth. He throws up a lot of blood as he hears,

“Soon.”

“No…” Mac says.

“Soon.” Mac keeps hearing it. Multiple voices repeating it. It’s like they are next to his ear but they aren’t. “Soon.”

“Stop!!” Mac screams as he makes a gurgling sound cause of the blood.

“Soon!”

“NOO!!” Mac screams as he lays on his back.

“NOO!!!” Mac jumps out of the bed screaming and sweat dripping down from his forehead. He falls on the ground as he starts breathing heavily. He drags himself and sits against the wall, bringing his legs to his chest as he wraps his hands around him. He looks around and sees that he’s in his bedroom and the lights are on. Mac had nightmares every night, but this…this was the worst one. Why was the virus in his dream? _‘Does the Organization have something to do with the letters?’_ Mac asks himself. He remembers everything in that dream. But the first thing that comes to his mind is Riley dying.

“Riley.” Mac jumps and runs to his phone. He picks it up and calls her straight away. It’s ringing and ringing and Mac is running out of patience. He knows that she’s asleep cause its literally 2:30 AM. “Come on, Riles, please, pick up.” Mac sighs. He won’t hang up, and if she doesn’t answer he’ll keep calling her. He’ll feel bad about waking her up but he needs to hear her voice. As he’s waiting for her to pick up, he runs out to the deck to check on the city and the sky. It all looks normal.

“Hello?” Riley answers with a tired voice. Mac’s guessing she’s still in bed now, with her eyes closed, and barely hanging the phone to her ear with her hand.

“Riles, are you okay?” It’s the first thing Mac asks. Riley hears his heavy breathing and how scared he is.

“Yes, Mac, I’m fine. What happened?” Riley asks.

“Is Jack okay?” Mac asks. Riley moves her phone from her ear and hears Jack’s snoring from the other room. ‘How can mom sleep in the same room with him, I’ll never know.’ Riley says to herself.

“Yes, Mac, Jack is fine. What’s going on?” Riley asks. Mac remains silent and Riley just hears him breathing.

“I had a nightmare.” Mac answers. Riley sighs and sits up, leaning against the headboard.

“How bad?” she asks quietly.

“The…the worst one yet.” Mac replies. That’s all Riley needed to get out of the bed and start getting ready.

“I’m on my way.” Riley says as she puts on her shoes. She’s in her pajamas still, but she was gonna drive there so nobody’s gonna see her.

“No, Riley, you don’t ha-”

“It wasn’t a question. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” Riley says and hangs up. She doesn’t want to listen to Mac telling her that she should stay home. That she should sleep and not worry about him. She is worried sick for him. So she gets out of her room quietly, rights a note to Jack and Diane telling them that she’s at Mac’s, grabs the keys of her truck and she’s off.

While Riley was driving to Mac’s house, Mac called Bozer, Leanna and Matty too. He just needed to be sure, that’s all. Matty was pissed for calling her at 2:40 AM, but he didn’t care. As long as he’s sure she’s okay. Mac has heard some doctors say that some dreams do have a meaning. What if this one has a meaning? Why did he dream about him and Riley breaking up? Were they not meant to be together? Would his life be better if he breaks up with her? Being with Riley is the thing Mac doesn’t want to end. Ever. _‘But why…’_ he asks himself. And Riley in his dream mentioned that someone died. A girl Mac knew apparently. But who is it? That’s when he hears the knock on his door. He goes over and opens it to reveal a very worried Riley on the other side. They look at each other for a bit, and then Riley hugs him tightly, letting him know that she’s here. Mac buries his face in her neck as he wraps his arms around her tightly, enjoying her warmth, not letting her go.

They sit down on his couch and Riley takes his hands in hers. “Tell me about the nightmare.” She says. Mac looks at her and then looks down. The dream started with the dark human figure, and Riley breaking up with him. _‘No…’_ Mac says to himself. He’s not gonna tell Riley about that. It might freak her out, doubts clouding her brain.

“I was at The Phoenix, and…everyone was dead. Just….there lying on the floor, everyone in a pile. Matty, Jack, Bozer, Leanna and the others that work at The Phoenix. Then, I saw you…” Mac isn’t gonna tell her that she was stabbed twice. Actually he isn’t gonna tell her anything. Enough was said about that. Even though Mac doesn’t finish, Riley knew what he meant. So she gives him a squeeze. “Then…I ended up on the hill I always go to. The city was burning, people screaming, sirens…the virus was released.” Mac says.

“The virus…that you recovered in Skopje?” Riley asks and Mac nods.

“Then, Reese, my old partner, comes out of nowhere and says that….that it was all my fault. That…the world dying is my fault.” Mac says with a shaky voice. “Then…I kept hearing ‘soon’ being repeated. That’s when I woke up. Riles…I’m freaked out.” Mac says as he looks at her. “What if it means something? Does the Organization has to do something with the letters?” Mac asks. Riley looks at him for a moment and then hugs him. She kisses his forehead and cups his cheek.

“Whatever this is, you won’t go through it alone, Mac. Okay? So please, be honest with me next time.” Riley says as she looks at those beautiful blue eyes that she fell in love with. Mac nods and smiles. Riley returns a smile and kisses him on the lips. Mac deepens the kiss and then moves to her neck. He needs to stop thinking about the nightmare. “Mac, you stink.” Riley says. Mac moves his head to look at her, giving her a shocked look. “Go and take a shower.”

Mac leans forwards and hovers his lips over hers. “Join me.” He whispers. Riley licks her lips as she feels the fire inside her. Riley’s smile gives Mac the answer, so he picks her up. Riley laughs as she wraps her legs around his waste and buries her face in his neck. Mac smiles and closes the bathroom door behind him.

_MORNING, AT THE PHOENIX_

Mac was happy that Riley came over last night. She being there for him when she needed her. They had their fun and went to sleep. Mac gave her his MIT shirt and she looked adorable in it. It was reaching her knees and the sleeves were very long. But she looked comfortable in it, so it was a score. With her in his arms, he actually had a few hours of sleep. Riley then went back home to get ready for work, and they met each other at The Phoenix. Now, they were all in the lab. Riley and Leanna are doing some coding together, Mac and Bozer are working on Sparky while Jack is looking at Sparky carefully, in case he jumps to kill them all. At least that’s what Jack thinks. Bozer notices the death stare Jack was giving Sparky.

“Dude, would you stop that?” Bozer says.

“No.” Jack replies.

“Jack, it won’t kill anybody. He can’t even turn on. I haven’t connected the cables yet.” Bozer says.

“He can jump anytime. The cables don’t matter.” Jack says. Mac laughs at how scared Jack is from robots. He’s still pissed at him from breaking Sparky before they were off to San Francisco.

“Trust me, Jack, when we finish Sparky, you’ll want him sitting in your GTO right next to you.” Mac says and Jack laughs sarcastically.

“You kidding me?” Jack asks.

“What? Don’t you agree with me?” Mac asks as he puts the screwdriver on the table.

“I don’t agree with you, a thousand metric times, I don’t agree with you.” Jack says. Mac raises his eyebrows and gives up convincing him. That’s when he’s phone buzzes. He picks it up and it’s a message from Matty.

“War room. Now. Important mission.”

“Looks like we got a big one.” Mac says to Jack and Bozer as he puts his phone back in his pocket. “Ladies? Matty needs us.” He says as he takes off his lab coat and follow Jack and Bozer. Riley closes her laptop and they follow the boys to the war room.

“Hey, boss.” Jack enters the war room with everyone following him. “Heard we have a big one.” Jack says.

“Very.” Matty confirms. She brings up a picture of an Asian man well dressed. “This is Zhao Long Ji.” Mac already knows the guy. He’s been on every news channel for a week. “This guy is one of the richest men in the world and is a genius. Ask him something, he’ll know it straight away.”

“Oh, so a Mac 2.0?” Leanna asks.

“Kind of. He’s also known for building the world’s tallest building in the world. I’m sure you all heard of it on the news. Let’s say he built a whole new world in a 150+ story building.” Matty says.

“Damn.” Was Jack’s only comment.

“Yes, and I would love to tell you more about the building, but we need to focus. We intercepted intel that a terrorist organization is gonna attack the building and kidnap Zhao. And we definitely don’t want that. Cause if this terrorist organization gets Zhao, they can make him do everything for them. And by “do”, I mean he can make them whatever they want. And they can use that for future attacks.” Matty says.

“So, where do we come in?” Jack asks.

“Isn’t it obvious, Jack? You are gonna go and stop those terrorists and save Zhao.” Matty says.

“You guys, this is reminding me of something.” Jack says as he purposely faces Riley. Riley smiles at him and everyone is confused.

“What does he mean?” Bozer asks.

“Bunch of terrorists, taking over a skyscraper?” Jack asks. It takes them a while to realize that Jack is thinking about Die Hard.

“Ohhhh, Die Hard.” Mac replies. Jack grins like a kid and looks so excited. He’s about to become John McLane. The grin is gone when he realizes the death stare Matty is giving him. He gulps and stands up.

“You got it, boss.” Jack says.

“Wheels up in 10 to Hong Kong.” Matty says.

_THE PHOENIX JET_

Mac splashes water on his face and looks in the mirror. All he sees in his eyes is the nightmare he had. The burning buildings, his friends dead, Reese with a half burned face. He shakes his head and exhales. _‘Focus.’_ Mac says to himself. They have probably the biggest mission right now, and Mac needs to his focus to be 100%. He grabs the towel and wipes his face. He hangs the towel and gets out of the bathroom.

“Seriously, when I knock out a guy, I’ll scream yippee-ki-yay mothef…”

“All right, what’s new?” Mac interrupts Jack.

“So far nothing. I hacked their cameras. Their security is very good, but they didn’t secure the cameras. It was the easiest thing to hack. It’s quiet.” Riley says.

“You had to interrupt me, didn’t you?” Jack says.

“Huh?” Mac asks sarcastically.

“I was about to say the best line in the freaking movie!” Jack says. Mac shakes his head with a smile as he sits next to Riley who’s switching cameras every 5 seconds. Jack’s phone rings and sees Matty’s picture.

“Boss lady.” Jack says when he answers the call.

“Guys, I just got word that Nikki escaped from prison last night.” Matty says. They all exchange shocked looks.

“How?!” Mac asks.

“By the looks of it, a guard helped her. She and the guard left the prison together.” Matty says. Mac is putting all the dots together and he needs to ask the question.

“Matty, what if the terrorist group that plans to kidnap Zhao is the Organization?” Mac asks. Riley looks at him with concern, knowing that he had the worst nightmare that included the Organization.

“Could be. We didn’t get a name of the terrorist group so…” Matty says. As Riley gets back to looking at the cameras, she sees a couple of men from the cleaning crew pouring some kind of powder on the ground on the 96th floor. They are also wearing masks.

“Guys, check this out. Is this a new style of cleaning or something?” Riley asks sarcastically. Mac leans forwards to look at the barrels.

“Can you zoom in on the barrels?” Mac asks Riley. Riley zooms in and Mac realizes what the powder is.

“That’s magnesium.” Mac says. Riley puts the laptop on the table so everyone can see what was happening. “I have no idea what they are doing with magnesium to be honest.” Mac says. One of them, who is probably the leader, claps his hands and the others drop the barrels. “Can we hear what they are saying?” Mac asks.

“Yeah, give me a sec.” Riley says. She does her thing and in ten seconds they have audio. The men take out their masks except for the leader. They get out and the leader stays. He turns around and takes out a lighter. They hear him say,

“Light a man’s house on fire, and you’ll find out what he truly loves.” The man says and takes off his mask. Mac’s eyes go wide when he saw the man’s face. Mac slowly turns to Jack who has his eyes wide too.

“Is that…” Matty trails off. She is watching on the war room screen as well.

“Yeah. That’s Kendrick.” Mac says.

Kendrick lights up the lighter and places it in front of the smoke alarm. That’s when the fire sprinkles start dropping fire.

“They’re gonna light up the whole skyscraper.” Mac says.

Sparks start forming as the water hits the magnesium, and then the whole room lights up on fire. Kendrick gets out and that’s when the cameras go out. Riley checks the skyscrapers fire system and sees that anti-fire measures are activated and the air vents are locked.

“The fire can’t go up nor down.” Riley says as Mac takes a look at the fire system.

“Why would they light up just one floor?” Mac asks them. They all shrug and then looks at Riley. “Can you hack their comms?” Mac asks.

“Are you acting like you don’t know me or something?” Riley asks with a smile.

“All right, while Riley is doing that, Leanna, I want you to find Zhao in that building. He’s probably on the top floor. See what he’s doing and is he safe.” Mac says.

“Copy that.” Leanna says as she takes out her laptop and gets to work. Leanna hacks the cameras and opens the camera on the top floor. “Got him.” Leanna says as she turns on the audio to listen. Zhao is looking at the fire on the big screen he has.

“Should we evacuate?” one of the men that’s with Zhao asks.

“Evacuate?” Zhao asks.

“Yes. Take your helicopter.” The man says.

“Why would we do that?” Zhao asks. Leanna finds him insane already.

“Cause the building’s on fire.” The man says which appears that he’s from the UK cause of his British accent.

“The building isn’t on fire, the 96th floor is on fire. We’re more than a hundred stories above that. And the anti-fire measures will keep it there.” Zhao says as he nods to one of his guards. The guard takes off and they don’t know where. “I assure you. We’re perfectly safe here.” Zhao says.

Riley hacks the Organization’s comms and they immediately hear guns being reloaded. Then they hear a woman’s voice speak.

“We’re in position at the offsite control facility.”

“Do it.” Kendrick says.

“Do what?” Jack asks the others.

“How are we supposed to know? Matty, find out how Kendrick got out of prison. We’ll take care of the rest.” Mac says.

“Copy that. And guys…come back alive.” Matty says and she hangs up.

“Leanna, see what’s going on in that facility.” Mac says.

“You got it.” Leanna replies and it takes her only a minute to hack the cameras. “Guys, come here.” Leanna says and they all get behind her. Leanna presses some keys so they can hear audio too. A woman walks in with men behind her with machine guns. The woman goes down to where the techs are working and whistles. They see the tech turning towards her. That’s when the men that stayed on the upper floor start shooting and killing every tech that was in the room. _‘Those poor people…’_ Riley says to herself.

“That’s just cruel.” Jack says. They see the doors open behind the woman and two men with guns come in. The woman grabs the gun of the first guy that walks in and hits him in the ribs. She spins around and grabs the other guy’s gun and hits him in the head. She quickly grabs his pistol from his waist, and shoots the first guy. She does a spin which results in the second guy falling down, and she shoots the first guy again right in his chest. She stands up and while she looks up, shoots the second guy right in the head.

“Wow.” Was Bozer’s only comment at that.

“Okay, how do we get in? The police have the place on lockdown.” Jack says.

“We’ll let Matty do her job. She’ll get us in. Now, I’ve heard that the elevators are like this, new generation and they work in the fire. Well…till they can. After that they’ll fail. We should arrive in Hong Kong in 10 minutes, so by the time we’ll get there, we can still use the elevators.” Mac says and Jack nods. “All right, let’s stop these pricks once and for all.” Mac says.

_HONG KONG, CHINA_

Mac, Jack, Riley, Bozer and Leanna rented a fast van that could fit all of them. They still had eyes on Zhao and ears on the comms on the Organization. Leanna’s watching Zhao and the woman who brought a male in the facility. The guy sat on the computer and started typing. Leanna don’t know what he’s doing until the skyscraper came on the screen and it’s security system.

“We’re in.” they hear the woman say.

“They hacked the security system.” Leanna says.

“Riles, can you get it from them?” Mac asks.

“I’ll do my best.” Riley says. Jack is breaking the speed limit dodging every car that’s in his way. Leanna sees Zhao trying to get admin access but it isn’t working.

“The entire system has been compromised. I’m completely locked out. ” They hear Zhao say.

“What do you mean you’re locked out? I thought that couldn’t happen.” The British man says.

“The Organization planned all of this very well. Riley, how’s it going?” Jack asks.

“Almost.” Riley says as she’s concentrating so much.

“We have full control of the anti-fire systems.” They hear the badass woman say.

“Seal all the fire doors from 95 to the ground. And disable all anti-fire measures from 96 to the top.” Kendrick says. Mac and Jack exchange glances when they hear Kendrick say that. Leanna sees the guy typing and on Riley’s laptop, it comes up saying that all the anti-fire measures have been disabled from the 96th floor to the top. Which means the fire sprinkles are gonna stop and the fire will rise on the floor.

“Riley, we need that security and anti-fire system now.” Jack says.

“I’m trying my best, Jack. It’s not easy.” Riley says sounding frustrated. “Ugh! Come on!!” Riley shouts from frustration.

“Now, open the vents and feed it with fresh oxygen. Let it burn.” Kendrick says.

“Ladies and gentleman, I give a 6.5 billion dollar chimney.” They hear the hacker guy say as Mac and Jack exchange worried glances. Riley’s laptop pings and she sees that all of the vents from the 96th floor to the top are now open. Mac looks ahead at the skyscraper and can see that it’s only one floor on fire. But then he sees an explosion on the 97th, 98th, 99th and 100th floor.

“That fire’s not gonna stop going up.” Mac says as he takes his phone and calls Matty. “Matty, we need to get in the building. Tell the police to let us in when we arrive.”

“Copy.” Matty says and Mac hangs up. Leanna sees the hacker giving a tablet to the woman as Riley gives up on hacking the security system, and tries to hack that tablet which has every system of the building.

“So…your full system control from the tablet has no facial recognition needed.” The guy says as he gives the tablet to the woman. “All other access point to the mainframe have been encrypted. The entire building now, it’s locked out. I used my old algorithmic base cypher to encrypt it, so I am literally the only human on the Planet Earth that can crack this.” The guy says with a smile.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that.” Riley says and hits enter. Now she has admin access to the whole building. Leanna smiles and looks back at her laptop, seeing the woman handing the laptop back to the guy who’s panicking.

“How is this possible?” they hear the guy asks.

“The only human that could crack this, huh?” the woman says and shoots the guy in the head. “We lost the system. But whoever has it, he can’t close the vents. We made sure of that.” And she’s right. Riley is trying everything but can’t close the vents.

“She’s right, I can’t close the vents. I can only activate the fire sprinkles.” Riley says.

“Okay, that will slow the fire down a bit, but it will continue to climb.” Mac says.

“If the fire continues to climb, it will super heat the air around the helipad making liftoff impossible. I hate to say it, sir, but it is now or never.” They hear a guard say that to Zhao.

“Happy? You got to play the hero, it didn’t work. It’s time to go.” The British guy says.

“All right, Mr. Pierce, you’ll get your wish. Get the chopper ready.” Zhao says.

“Prep the bird.” The guard says on his comms.

“Something’s gonna happen. The Organization won’t let Zhao leave.” Mac says. After Mac says that, Jack notices the same car behind them that was behind them when they left the airport. He already knows what’s going on.

“We’re being followed.” Jack says. Mac looks at the side mirror and sees what Jack means. “Hang on.” Jack says as he rams the throttle. He starts driving even faster now and he sees the car behind them chasing them. “Yeah, we’re definitely being followed.” Jack says. Mac glances at the side mirror and sees a man from the car leaning out of the window aiming a gun at them.

“Get down!” Mac shouts as bullets start breaking the windows on the car. Jack starts weaving and that’s when a bullet hits their rear tire and they spin off. They all get out from the car and take cover on the other side. The shooting continues as Jack and Leanna get their pistols out. They stand up and shoot a couple of bullets. It was enough for Jack to see a familiar face shooting at them. He gets down and reloads his gun.

“It’s Nikki.” Jack says. Mac’s head snaps towards him as Jack gets out of cover and starts shooting again. Mac’s anger starts to take over him now. He looks over to Riley who is hiding her face in her hands. He crawls over to her and puts his hand on her shoulder.

“Riles, you okay?” Mac shouts so she can hear him. She doesn’t say anything, just nods. Mac looks around and notices a car behind them opened. Someone left it and ran away cause of the shooting. Mac spots a bottle of alcohol inside the car and has an idea. “I have an idea. Be right back.” Mac shouts. He crawls to the car, carefully making sure not to get shot and die. He takes the bottle and crawls back to the others. He gets the towel that’s in the van for some reason, but he’s not complaining cause it’s about to save their lives….hopefully. He puts the towel in the hole and takes out his lighter. He lights up the towel and looks at Jack, telling him to get up and take some shots. Jack does that and that’s when Mac throws the bottle at their car. The car and the ground around it lights up on fire, making the people and Nikki cover their faces. That’s when Mac, Jack and Leanna attack. Mac takes out one guy, Jack the other and shoots him, and Leanna knock out the third guy with a kick. They look for Nikki and realize that she’s gone. Until Mac spots her running away.

“You guys go get Zhao, I’m going after Nikki.” Mac says as he starts running after her, not even waiting for the team’s response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3


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